


Dyatos

by Lets_change_fate (Zaazaaa)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, But not everything goes as planned, Demon Oikawa Tooru, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Human Iwaizumi Hajime, Iwaizumi definitely has a weakness for Oikawa, M/M, Oblivious Iwaizumi Hajime, They are training to become hunters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-11-16 05:45:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11247528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaazaaa/pseuds/Lets_change_fate
Summary: "All he could see was pain and sadness. No monster, no rage, only a pleading look. Asking for help."Iwaizumi Hajime is a hunter. The monsters he hunts either are killed or transported to the capital, where they will be tamed for battle.Then the hunt gets personal, but the monster Iwaizumi is faced with is not one he ever expected to find.





	1. The hunt

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for giving this fanfic a chance!  
> Be prepared, it will be a long story.  
> Have fun reading, comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu!! or any characters of Haikyuu!! Only the story is my own.

Next to an old forest is a big village. It was mainly used as a trading point, but quite recently it became a strategical foundation for the country. This was because the old forest was the home of many creatures, some even unknown to human kind, others only whispered about.

These creatures were the core of the new king’s battle plan. For the king had decided that the country had to be cleansed of all evil.

And the best way to fight monsters was to use monsters. Therefore, the monsters that weren't dangerous enough and could be tamed, were to be captured and brought to the capital. There where specialists that were forging these monsters into marvellous weapons.

Next to the village is a special training camp for so called special forces situated. Here, hunters are trained to capture or kill monsters.

This night, another hunting expedition was planned. But this time they wouldn't catch their prey.

No, this time they would be hunting for the kill. This monster had rampaged in the village and therefore it was not safe to keep the dangerous creature alive. But before they could kill it, they first had to find it.

\---

The moon shines bright through the leaves of the small trees when the hunting party enters the wilderness. At the edge of the forest, the trees are only a quarter of the height of the enormous trees that grow in the middle. The further they are walking, the darker it becomes.

Iwaizumi Hajime is one of the hunters that is hunting on the beast. But for him, this hunt is something personal. This is the monster that had eaten his best friend and killed his friends mother in the progress.

Nobody questioned the fact of why the woman wasn't eaten too. Or why she was left remarkably unscratched, unlike the other parts of the house. Iwaizumi has seen it with his own eyes. The house of his best friend, in which he had spent many hours talking and playing games with him, was now nothing more than a ruin. The floor was wrecked, walls had fallen away, nothing was left standing. And his friend... All they found of him was blood.

Iwaizumi was overwhelmed with sadness and rage. Hadn't he told his friend to let him come with him? If he hadn't let him go alone, then maybe he was still alive now.

Now, Iwaizumi is only angry at himself. And all he could do to make the awful feeling disappear, is chasing this monster. He needs to find it and kill it, with his own hands.

After the beast had destroyed the house, it had fled into the forest. But it had left trails, a lot of them, which were easy to follow.

Right now, it looks like they are closing in on it. Iwaizumi hears the other hunters shouting. The weapons are drawn. This is it. This is going to be his revenge. The revenge for the death of his best friend, Oikawa Tooru.

 

\--- Flashback ---

 

"Iwa-chan! Don't walk so fast." Oikawa is walking behind him and pouting.

"Just don't get behind, Stupid. You were the one that got us here in the first place." Iwaizumi grumbles.

"But I am tired. The training was way too hard." Oikawa whines.

"That is because you always want to run first and win in all practice matches. You know that preservation of your body is important, right?" Iwaizumi says, but he also slows down his pace.

"Iwa-chan, you are just jealous that you can't win from me. I am the fastest and strongest of all our fighters. One day I will be strong enough to protect everyone in the village, all by myself." Oikawa chants.

"I'm not jealous!" Iwaizumi exclaims and turns around to grab Oikawa at his collar. "You work yourself too hard, what if you one day fall death of overworking? How do you want to protect everyone then? Well??" Iwaizumi now stands really close before Oikawa and he is breathing heavily because of his shouting.

Oikawa's big brown eyes look down at him is shock. But then his expression morphs quickly in something haughty. "Of course I won't die." He says smugly while releasing himself from Iwaizumi's hold.

Iwaizumi sees him walking away from him. He is seething. Why can't Oikawa just listen to him? He opens his mouth to shout after the guy, but then two brown eyes look behind. The affectionate gaze in those eyes makes his words stuck in his throat.

"Because I have you to look after me, right?" Oikawa says happily, and his eyes wrinkle at the sides with a smile.

Iwaizumi stares at that beautiful sight for a second, but then he averts his head.

"I can't leave you alone, you wouldn't survive a day without me." Iwaizumi grumbles, but his cheeks heathen up.

"Yes, yes." Oikawa chants. "My hero."

"Shut up, Shittykawa." Iwaizumi says, but it is only half-heartedly.

They keep walking side by side.

 

\--- Present ---

 

Iwaizumi clenches his teeth when that memory flashes before him. He failed. Even when he told him, he wasn’t at Oikawa's side when he needed him. He wasn't there to protect him.

And now he was alone. Now Oikawa was gone.

While walking through the forest and following the monster's trail, he keeps thinking about that moment.

They had just started training for the military right then. They joined a special department. One for the strongest fighters, that could even fight against the monsters in the forest. It was Oikawa's idea to join, and he had dragged Iwaizumi with him.

There was nothing they didn't do together anyway. Ever since they met each other when they were kids, they were inseparable. They lived next to each other, both with their widowed mothers. Or at least Iwaizumi's mother was a widow, his dad died in battle when Iwaizumi was just a baby. He never knew what had happened to Oikawa's father.

It was a touchy subject for Oikawa, so Iwaizumi didn't ask a lot about him. All he knew was that if his father was still alive, then Oikawa’s mother never told Oikawa where he was.

One day Oikawa had come to Iwaizumi, all determined to become stronger. He told him that his mother had finally told him the reason why his father left. It had surprised Iwaizumi that moment, because he knew that they hardly spoke about Oikawa’s father. It would make Oikawa's mother sad, and therefore Oikawa hadn’t asked a lot about him.

"She said that he left to protect us." Oikawa had said. "So, I will become stronger, then I can protect everyone for danger! And if everyone is safe, then dad doesn't have to stay away to protect us. He can come back and make mom happy again!"

That was Oikawa's reasoning. Once he was strong enough to beat everything and everyone, then nobody had to leave anymore.

And Iwaizumi had gone with him. To keep an eye on him and keep him out of harm's way, he had said to himself. But to be honest, Iwaizumi had followed Oikawa even if the man decided to go to the end of the world. After all, Oikawa was his best friend, his companion for life. He brightened Iwaizumi’s boring days and gave meaning to his life.

But now he even lost that.

Iwaizumi sighs deep. This isn’t the place to think about that. He can’t get emotional here and get distracted from his task. He shakes his head and starts scanning his surroundings.  
It is now so dark, that he can hardly see ten meters before him.

Luckily the moon sometimes helps to brighten his way, but that way, he also gets more visible to others. And with others, Iwaizumi now mainly thinks about the monster.

It appeared that the tracks of the monster became smaller, once it entered the forest. That makes Iwaizumi uneasy. Are they dealing with a shapeshifter? What shape has the monster right now? What was he looking for?

Iwaizumi doesn’t know. But he keeps following the other hunters, and the trail.

He isn’t the first one to spot the monster. But he does hear a deep growling sound and the yelling of the men before him.

Suddenly everyone is moving. A blur in the darkness of the trees moves closer to the hunting party. Just as fast as it comes, it is gone. And it has taken a hunter with a bow and arrow with him. The man is screaming for mere seconds. Then Iwaizumi heard a heavy thud, which is followed by complete silence.

The air feels heavy with tension. No one knows where the beast would strike next.

Iwaizumi positions himself on the outskirts of the group, this way he hopes to be the first to be under attack. He wants to be attacked, that way he could get close enough to kill the monster.

But it happens to be a wrong move. Apparently, the monster thought it smart to attack the stronger core of the hunters. Either the monster is overly confident, or extremely stupid.

The hunters are yelling at each other and fighting of the beast. Meanwhile Iwaizumi runs back from his place. He won't let it get away, but the monster is already taking down all the other men.

One by one, the men are taken down. The hunters were well trained, though. And they wouldn’t be sent on this mission, if they weren’t good enough for this job.

The monster lets out a high-pitched yowl when one hunter manages to slash its with his blade. Even in the little light of the moon, the blood of the monster is visible. Red gushes down from a large cut over its chest.

It is the last thing that the brave hunter would see, because the next moment the monster hits the man with such a power that he is thrown through the air. The man falls with his head against a tree two meter away and doesn’t get up again.

Iwaizumi is now back in the core of the group. Most of the hunters are laying on the ground but two large men are still standing. Iwaizumi joins them the moment the monster steps back into the shadows.

"Don't let your guard down!" Iwaizumi says to the other two harshly. His blood is pumping through his veins and his adrenaline is sky high. He is so close to his revenge!

It is dead silent in the forest, but then Iwaizumi hears the cracking of a twig behind them. He can just turn around fast enough to push his fellow hunters out of the way. Sharp claws slash the air where the men just stood.

Iwaizumi quickly grips his sword more tightly and goes to stand in a defensive pose. He is ready to counter any attack.

But it doesn’t come. The monster freezes before him, and lets out a surprised sound.

Iwaizumi can finally see the beast up close. He sees that the dark skin that helped the monster to hide in the shadows, consists of layers of dark, mat scales. The monster is standing on his hind legs, hunched forward to protect his bleeding chest. Its feet and hands both end in long sharp talons. The ones on the hands are dripping red from human blood.

Then Iwaizumi looks the monster in its eyes, and what he sees there makes his gut clench.

Those dark brown eyes, full of pain, looks so familiar.

Iwaizumi gasps, this can't be true!

But their moment is broken by the war-cry of the last two hunters standing. Immediately the monster is ready to fight again. A hiss comes from gritted sharp teeth.

Iwaizumi is too shocked, and doesn’t acts fast enough. Therefore, he still stands in between the beast and the hunters when they start fighting.

Then a clawed hand grabs the iron of his armour. Before Iwaizumi realises what happened, he is thrown out of the way. He lands hard on the ground a meter from the fight. Iwaizumi grunts when he feels the pain flaring in his back, but he doesn’t stay down.

He can hear a deep growling sound behind him. The monster is fighting again. The two men don't stand a chance. The beast is too fast and too strong. It even seems to understand the way the hunters are fighting, and it dodges the attacks just at the right time again and again and again.

Iwaizumi scrambles back on his feet the same moment that the other two men fall on the ground.

Now he and the beast are the only one left standing.

Iwaizumi sees the monster turn around to him, but it doesn’t seem to make any attempt to attack him. A shaky breath leaves Iwaizumi’s chest. His sword is still clenched in his fist, but his hands are trembling.

Slowly, the monster is walking to Iwaizumi. The action is nothing like the sharp and fast movements the beast has shown him before. Then the monster passes a ray of moonlight, and Iwaizumi sees more and more familiar details.

"No." He breathes out. "You... this can't be..."

The monster stops walking when its hears Iwaizumi's voice. Now the beast stands still, Iwaizumi can see it swaying on his legs. There is still blood dripping out of the wound on its chest. But his gaze is drawn back to the monster’s eyes.

Deep brown eyes bore into him, and Iwaizumi can't look away. All he could see is pain and sadness. No monster, no rage, only a pleading look. Asking for help.

"Tooru?" Iwaizumi whispers with a broken voice.


	2. Wanna bet Iwa-chan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note: We are going two weeks back in time!   
> Have fun reading xx

\--- Two weeks back ---

Iwaizumi strolls form the training camp back to the village. Oikawa is walking besides him, just as tired as he is, but also in a worse mood than he is. The brunet had a sour look on his face, wich emerged in the middle of the day and then didn't fade away. 

Iwaizumi assumes he knows what bothers Oikawa, but he is tired and doesn't asks about it now. He first wants to eat a warm meal, maybe that would also cheer Oikawa up.

Today until tomorrow, Iwaizumi's mother would be out of town to visit her niece. Therefore, Iwaizumi was invited by Oikawa's mother, Sumire, to eat at their place. Oikawa's mother cooks delicious, so Iwaizumi never declines an invitation for dinner with them.

They get at Oikawa's home just when Sumire finished cooking and they are directly sent to the dinner table. When she asks them about their day, Oikawa grumbles that it was terrible, but Iwaizumi tells her that everything was just fine.

Oikawa doesn't agree with him. "Really Iwa-chan, it was not just fine, that man gives me the creeps." He argues after they all said 'thanks for the food' and started eating.

"You are just exaggerating, it seemed like a good man." Iwaizumi disagrees.

"Who is that man anyway?" Sumire asks while sharing more food with the two men. She made way too much, but she rather has too much food, than too little for these hard workers.

"Today a man from the capital came to the training camp, apparently to judge our hunters and to choose a few to go to the imperial city." Iwaizumi explains matter-of-factly.

Oikawa whines loudly in protest. "But that man was weird, you must admit Iwa-chan!"

Iwaizumi just grunts and keeps eating. Sumire chuckles at the familiar conversation style of her son and his best friend, but that doesn't go unnoticed by her son.

"No but really mom, I think that man is a monk or something. And he smelled weird." Oikawa wrinkles his nose as if he is remembering a foul smell.

Suddenly they hear clattering. Iwaizumi looks up from his plate and sees Oikawa's mother looking in shock at her son. She had dropped her cutlery, her hands still hanging mid-air.

"Tooru, are you sure that that man is a monk?" She says softly.

Oikawa, happy that he finally got the acknowledgement about the topic, nods enthusiastic. "Yes, he also had these weird clothes and everything, and he was bald, are monks not always bald?" He asks at Iwaizumi, but the other just shrugs.

"What did he smell like?" Sumire asks then quickly, totally ignoring the rest Oikawa said.

Iwaizumi doesn't understand the importance of a mere smell. He hadn't smelled anything weird at the man.

"I couldn't really place it? It was something I've never smelled before, but it felt foul. And it was... burning? Yes, burning is the right word. It was burning my nose to breathe in." Oikawa says while looking in thoughts, trying to remember the exact smell.

Oikawa looks at Iwaizumi and catches him staring. They share a moment, in which Oikawa looks smug, as if he wants to say with his eyes 'I told you that it was not normal'. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.

Then he catches the horrified look on Oikawa's mothers face. Oikawa also notices it and says "Mom, are you alright? You look a bit pale."

"Don't go near him." Sumire says then with a stern face. "You hear me? Promise me that you keep away from that man. He is dangerous!" Her voice gets more frantic at the end, she almost looks scared, Iwaizumi thinks.

Oikawa looks confused, but quickly agrees to calm his mother down. "Okay, I promise, as much as I can at least in the training camp. But why is that man so dangerous?"

Iwaizumi sees the woman looking out of the window into the forest. "Let's just say that monks tend to destroy everything you care about. Even when they say they do it for the greater good."

And that is all she wants to say about is. The rest of the dinner everyone stays silent. Iwaizumi wants to break the silence more than once, but every time he isn't sure about what to say, so he keeps his mouth shut.

After everyone is full, the food is cleaned up, and Iwaizumi thanked Sumire at least three times, Oikawa and Iwaizumi go to the brunet's room.

Iwaizumi doesn't come here frequently, they mostly hang out in the living room, or at his place. But the room is still the same as he remembered. The mess is also still the same.

Oikawa lets himself fall on his bed. "What do you think that was about?" He asks the other.

Iwaizumi goes to sit next to Oikawa on the bed. "I don't know. But it looked serious, we better take her word for it and stay away from the monk."

Oikawa hums and closes his eyes. "Yeah it is not like I wanted to get closer to that man. He really stinks."

Iwaizumi looks down at the guy, his brown hair is tousled more than usual. Without thinking he pushes a stray strand of hair out of the other's eyes. Oikawa then catches his wrist and opens his eyes. A mischievous smile appears on his face.

"What are you doing, Iwa-chan?"

Iwaizumi suddenly realises what he did and a blush starts spreading over his face. He takes his arm out of the others grip and stands up, looking away to hide his flustered face. "Your hair irritates me, it is never in its place."

"So mean! My hair is absolutely beautiful." Oikawa says in a pouting voice, but when Iwaizumi looks back he sees the man smiling.

"It is not." Iwaizumi grunts. Then he looks out of the window, it is already dark outside. "I should go home." He voices his thoughts aloud and starts walking to the door.

But he is stopped by a hand on his wrist. Iwaizumi looks back and sees Oikawa reaching for him. "You can also stay, you know? There is nobody home at your place anyway, so they won't miss you." The brunet proposes.

Iwaizumi is for a moment speechless and just blinks at Oikawa. Oikawa sees that he is doubting so he smiles reassuring. "Just like old times, right?"

Iwaizumi scowls. "But now we never fit in your bed anymore, stupid."

Oikawa lifts his head taunting. "Wanna bet? I am sure you still fall straight asleep, just like in the past."

"I did not! You were always the one that immediately started drooling everywhere." Iwaizumi says hotly.

"Well prove it then." Oikawa answers with a smile that says he knows he has won. Iwaizumi mutters something what sounds like 'manipulative Assikawa' but then he allows Oikawa to pull him back to the bed.

"I don't have other clothes with me though."

"You can lend mine, they would probably fit."

Oikawa gets him a set of clothes and then leaves him alone to change, while he goes to say good night to his mother and tells her that Iwaizumi stays for the night.

Iwaizumi looks at his borrowed clothes. They are long enough, but Oikawa is slimmer than he is. His shoulders stretch the shirt dangerously at the top, but it will do for a night.

After they did all their night rituals (Oikawa taking twice the time Iwaizumi takes for it), they finally end up in bed.

Iwaizumi immediately regrets taking this bet. When they were little, they could easily sleep besides each other in this bed. Now their legs need to tangle to both fit. And in every position, he always brushes at least at some place to Oikawa.

Not that he minds being this close to Oikawa, not at all, but it is just so hot.

"Hey Iwa-chan." Oikawa then whispers. "Do you think that the monk will try to take me to the capital?"

Iwaizumi looks at the brunet, who stares at the ceiling. He thinks of making a joking retort, but then he notices the others tense shoulders.

"If you wanted to go, then he could." He whispers back.

Oikawa scowls and stays silent for a few more moments. Then he turns his head to Iwaizumi. "I don't want to. But what if he chooses me to come with him? Didn't he say that he wanted strong fighters? I'm the top of the class right now." He says with a desperate tone in his voice.

Iwaizumi realizes that this might be the first time that Oikawa found a downside of being the best in anything.

"Then you say that you don't want to go." He answers plainly.

Oikawa looks not convinced. "But what if he insists? What if I don't have a choice but to leave." He says with a small voice.

Iwaizumi knows him long enough to hear what he didn't say. 'What if I have to leave my mom and you?'

"Then I'll drag your sorry ass all the way back home from the capital." He answers. And because he can't look at Oikawa's intense gaze he turns his back to him.

"Really?" He hears Oikawa say, his voice louder, more confident.

"Really, now go to sleep Oikawa."

Oikawa nuzzles closer and grabs Iwaizumi's shirt loosely.

"Mm good night Iwa-chan." Oikawa says muffled against his shoulder.

"Night." He whispers back.

Within minutes Iwaizumi hears light snoring from behind him.

At least he won the bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, I hope you guys like it!
> 
> For the people who are curious and like names:  
> I couldn't find an official name of Oikawa's mother, so I picked the name myself.  
> I love flower language, therefore I chose a name that was also a flower and had a beautiful meaning. Sumire is the Japanese name for the flower Violet. (Japanese, because the other names are also Japanese).
> 
> It's meaning is 'Honesty'... I am not going to say more hehe.
> 
> If you are more interested in Japanese flower language; it is called Hanakotoba.


	3. That burning smell again

They both wake up at 7 AM. They have to be at the training camp at 9 o'clock, but it takes a while to walk there. And Oikawa takes his time in mornings.

Iwaizumi hears him humming when he finally joins him at breakfast. The guy gets his own breakfast and sits down next to him. They don't speak much, Oikawa knows how Iwaizumi prefers silence in the mornings. The brunet had experienced first-hand how grumpy Iwaizumi can get when he starts to ask him thousand questions in the morning.

But Iwaizumi hears that the brunet keeps humming softly. He is glad to see that Oikawa's mood brightened over the night. At least one person enjoys mornings.

Iwaizumi isn't really grumpy this morning though, he slept enough tonight. He must admit, sleeping next to someone makes him sleep a lot calmer than usual.

Or maybe it is just sleeping next to Oikawa.

After a quiet breakfast, they depart for the training camp. Oikawa's mother just gets out of bed when they walk out of the door. She waves at them from the kitchen window, Oikawa smiles and waves back to her.

When they finally arrive at the training camp, the activities are almost starting. They hurry to get to their places. The day starts like any other day, with endurance training.

Iwaizumi pays extra attention to his surroundings today, but he doesn't see the monk anywhere.

He sees Oikawa also looking around. The brunet remembered his mother's words and even stays away from the trainers more than usual.

"Oi, Oikawa." Another student speaks up when they were walking to the bunks for another lesson. It was about the weakness of different monsters this time. Both Iwaizumi and Oikawa look around.

"Are you at least giving others a chance to impress the new supervisor?" It is Takahiro Hanamaki, a good friend of both Iwaizumi and Oikawa. The short haired guy smirks at them to let them know he is joking.

"Heh, yeah that would be very much appreciated." A guy with messy black hair says while standing with his hands in his side. Issei Matsukawa is longer than Oikawa, but not stronger. Although, Iwaizumi is sure that Matsukawa and Hanamaki would be at the top of the class if Oikawa wasn't around.

They are both really good fighters, Hanamaki better in the offence and Matsukawa better in the defence. Together they are almost unbeatable. Iwaizumi likes them, because they're serious when needed, but also fun to hang around with. He and Oikawa often join them at dinner or hang out with them after training.

Oikawa smiles his charming smile. "Oh boys, already acknowledging the star player?" He jokes back but then he waves them away. "Nah, it is that you guys ask it so nicely. But you can go to the capital instead of me."

"Oh, but we are not stupid to think that he will pick us over you. No, we are aiming for the spare places. He will pick five of us apparently instead of just one." Hanamaki says while leaning his elbow on Matsukawa's shoulder. Which, honestly, looks ridiculous, because Matsukawa is still taller than Hanamaki.

Iwaizumi then starts paying more attention to the childish bickering. "Where did you hear that?" He asks Hanamaki.

"Well at the introduction they told us that he would only pick one fighter, but that is probably only to make us more motivated. We overheard the monk talking to the trainers just now. He said that he needs at least 5 of us." Matsukawa explains for Hanamaki. The short haired guy nods and smiles at Matsukawa.

"So, Matsu and I are going to get in that top five." Hanamaki announces confidently.

Iwaizumi frowns, this will make it even harder for Oikawa to stay under the monk's radar. He notices Oikawa standing a little closer to him. The brunet's discomfort is clearly visible.

Still Oikawa manages to act happily. "Well then you at least have a little chance." He winks at the two. "I wish you guys luck, the chance of you both getting in those three free spots is low you know."

Hanamaki raises one eyebrow. "Four free spots, you dumbass, can't you do math?" He replies.

Then Oikawa looks down at him and smiles smugly. "Oh no? Well you didn't think that even if you didn't take me into account, that you would surpass Iwa-chan, did you?" He says, also putting his hands at his sides.

Then Iwaizumi hits him on his head.

"Ow that hurts, what was that for, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa whines, directly aborting his haughty attitude.

"Don't go spreading nonsense, Shittykawa." Iwaizumi grumbles to hide his embarrassment. Oikawa always manages to surprise him with his sudden compliments.

"It's true, you know it, with me on your side we are the strongest team here." Oikawa murmurs while rubbing over his head. Then he looks at the other two guys who watch them with amusement. "It would be fun to work with you guys though, so work hard." He says cheerfully.

"We're definitely going to make in in the top five, watch us!" Hanamaki says firm and Matsukawa nods in confirmation.

The four guys the walk together to the next course of the day. Later, when Iwaizumi sits down next to Oikawa, he whispers to him. "What was that about, I thought you didn't want to go to the capital?"

Oikawa watches him in the corner of his eyes, but keeps his head turned to the front. "Well, the chances are low for me to be overlooked. I thought about it, but this new information changes the situation." The brunet then decides to ignore the lesson and turns himself completely to Iwaizumi.

"And if we can go to the capital together, then maybe it wouldn't be that bad. And if it gets boring, then you could always drag me back home, right?" He whispers happily.

Within a second Oikawa's attention is called back by the teacher. With a last beaming grin, the guy turns away from Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi then sighs and leans his chin on his hand. Such a hand full, that guy. But the whole lesson he keeps thinking about going to the capital. Together with Oikawa. Perhaps leaving this village isn't such a bad idea after all. 

\---

The next day the monk stayed away as well. Everything goes on like the monk had never come around. But it felt different. As if the trainers were tenser, and the training was harder. Iwaizumi felt it in his muscles when he sat down for the lunch on the third day.

Iwaizumi sees Hanamaki and Matsukawa and joins them at the table. Oikawa sits down next to him and after greeting the other students with a beaming smile, he wends himself to Iwaizumi. "Say Iwa-chan, have you -"

Suddenly Oikawa stops midsentence, his gaze goes over the hall, looking for something, until he finds what he is looking for.

"He is here." Oikawa then says, without looking away from the man.

Iwaizumi follows his gaze and sees the bald slim man, in his robes, walking to a table of the trainers.

"You could smell him all over here?" Iwaizumi whispers while checking if the others don't overhear them. He still thinks that it is weird, and he doesn't want others to make fun of his friend. But he doesn't doubt Oikawa's sense of smell.

"Yeah, it is that same burning smell." Oikawa puts a hand before his nose and mouth. "How can you not smell it?"

Iwaizumi looks around and sees that no one reacts as heavily as his friend. He looks back at Oikawa questioning. "Maybe the question is we should ask is, why can you?"

Both friends look at each other, but let it go in favour of their food. The food is not really good, but edible when warm.

"Ew, it even pollutes my taste." Oikawa grumbles after a few bites.

"Just eat it, you need the energy." Iwaizumi tells him while shoving his own food in his mouth.

"Iwa-chan, are you my mom?" Oikawa asks loud enough for the other people to hear.

Hanamaki bursts into laughter and Matsukawa chuckles at them. Iwaizumi looks at them with an irked expression. "Shut it, Trashykawa." He grumbles at Oikawa.

\---

After the lunch, they head to the great training room. Their next lesson is Swordsmanship, something Iwaizumi can almost do better than Oikawa. Almost. Oikawa is still faster than he is. But because they are both almost evenly matched, they are always put together as training partners.

The lesson starts as usual, and they are already working their selves in the sweat, when their trainer asks everyone to stop and listen for a moment.

"Good work everyone. You all have already seen master Konou before, and you all know that he is here to investigate our progression. He also will choose a talented student to go with him to the capital for special training. This student also will be rewarded and payed for its service for the kingdom. So, all do your best, everyone has a fair chance."

Mumbling starts around the students as soon as the trainer says something about a fair chance. A few foul looks are thrown in Oikawa's direction. But it seems as if the person in question isn't even paying attention.

Iwaizumi nudges his friend to get him out of his thoughts. The glassy gaze in the other's eyes disappears when Oikawa sees who is nudging him.

"You okay?" Iwaizumi asks.

The trainer continues talking but both guys aren't listening anymore. "I don't know, I feel a bit funny." Oikawa answers truthfully.

Then another voice starts talking, which grabs Iwaizumi's attention again. The voice is soft but low, lower than he had expected by the small man. The monk, whose name seems to be Konou, is now speaking to the students. In his hands, he has an incense bowl, from which a small amount of smoke rises.

"Thank you for your attention, but please don't pay any attention on me when you are training. I am just walking and looking, nothing else." The man says with a genuine smile.

From somewhere in the back a student makes a joke about the incense, but he is louder than he thinks. "Do we stink too much?" echoes through the room.

The room tenses, students look shocked at the guy that made the joke. He dared to mock the person that would judge them? The teacher also looks angry, but then the monk starts to laugh. It is a little open laugh.

"Oh, no don't you worry. Your sweaty odour doesn't repel me. No, I know the smell of hard work." He keeps the incense bowl higher for everyone to see.

"This is only a purification incense. While I am here, I also want to do my work, and chase away the evil monsters and spirits. It won't affect you all, if anything, this incense would give you lads extra energy."

The students look doubtful, but the monk looks enthusiastic about it. The teacher thanks the man afterwards and gives everyone a next drill to practice.

The students go back to work, but Iwaizumi keeps his eyes on the monk. The man looks like a kind person. Is this man really capable of doing the things Oikawa's mother warned them about? 

He then turns his attention back to the practice drills. He and Oikawa repeat the movements of the teacher. Only when the drills get longer and the steps get more interesting, Iwaizumi notices that something is amiss.

Oikawa is breathing heavier and his movements seem slower. When the other stumbles back a step from the impact of Iwaizumi's sword, Iwaizumi stops.

"Oi, what's wrong." He says with a gruff voice.

Oikawa is panting. "It burns." He rasps.

Iwaizumi immediately looks at the monk, he is now standing not that far away, the incense still in his hands. Suddenly it makes sense.

"The incense..." Iwaizumi whispers.

Watery brown eyes are looking up at him. "How long?" He huffs.

Iwaizumi understands his friend even with little words. "Probably not more than a half hour."

Oikawa grits his teeth. "Just holding in my breath then." He says.

"We can also go? Just say that you feel not well?" Iwaizumi proposes while he takes another fighting pose.

"No, that will only grab his attention." The brunet whispers. He cast a look at the monk. The man is coming closer.

"Then we just act. Don't put force behind your attack. I will just act like it is rough."

Oikawa gives him a little smile. "Being the hero again."

If he can still joke, then he will keep it up. "Shut up and fight, stupid." Iwaizumi grunts. And just on time. He sees the monk walking towards them.

Iwaizumi actually wants to ask him to go away. He is making his friend sick. Now that the monk is standing this close, Iwaizumi can smell a faint spicy scent in the air.

The man keeps observing them for a few minutes. It feels like an hour, though, when he finally walks away. Iwaizumi gives his friend concerned looks over his sword. He can feel Oikawa trembling through his sword.

This can't be right. The monk said that it wasn't bad for us, but maybe he has never seen someone reacting this way before.

What if the incense was dangerous for some people? Maybe Oikawa was allergic to it. Iwaizumi has once seen someone allergic for food, that person became very sick of it. What if that is happening to Oikawa right now?

"Keep it up, the teacher is already putting away his sword." He says over his sword to his friend.

Oikawa looks at him and nods. Sweat is dripping over his forehead and his chest his heaving. Finally, the teacher shouts the stop signal. Everywhere students drop down to the floor, stretching and huffing.

Oikawa doesn't stand out when he also drops on his knees. But Iwaizumi pulls him back up again.

"Come on, let's get out of this air." He drags his friend on his arm out of the room, not bothering to say the teacher goodbye. He takes Oikawa's sword in the hand that already held his own. On their way to the exit he puts them in a chest designed for practice swords.

Before they walk out of the door, Iwaizumi looks over his shoulder. He meets the eyes of the monk for a second, the piercing gaze bores into him. The bright eyes look different now in comparison with how the man looked at them at his speech. They look harder, no trace of kindness was left.

A shiver goes down Iwaizumi's spine, but he looks away and takes Oikawa out of there.


	4. Knight Charming

Iwaizumi decides to take Oikawa home after the Swordsmanship lesson. Oikawa keeps leaning heavily on Iwaizumi's shoulders while walking home. So much, that his mother, who sees them walking home, runs out of the house to help.

"What happened?" She asks in panic.

"Ah hey mom, don't you worry, I will be good in no time." Oikawa slurs.

Iwaizumi gives him a disapproving look. "Oikawa is allergic or something for an energizing incense that that monk took with him." He says to Sumire.

That gives Oikawa's mother a sour look. They both take Oikawa inside and sit him down on the couch.

"Stay here, I am going to make something against this." She says when Oikawa looks comfortable.

Iwaizumi follows her to the kitchen to see if there is something she needs help with. "You have something against that? Are you familiar with this kind of allergy?"

Sumire gets some herbs from a jar in the back of her cupboard. Then she sets a pan with water on the fire and lets the herbs boil in the pan.

"Well, I have learned a lot of things in my past, also something about herbs. If my suspicion is correct, then this herb will counter the effects of the previous one."

Iwaizumi picks up a little leave that fell on the counter and twirls it in his hand, it doesn't look special, just a leave. Iwaizumi brings it to his nose, but it also doesn't have any weird smell. He frowns, then how does she know how to pick this plant? He looks up at Oikawa's mother. "What is it called?" he asks.

"Aegopodium podagraria, but it is also called ground elder or bishop's weed." And as if she heard Iwaizumi's question she continues. "It grows in shady places and it has little white flowers in umbels when it blooms. But you can recognise it best on his leaves. The leaves grow in pairs of sevens, with three on the top, and two times two at the bottom. Sometimes at the top of the pant, the leaves are still in pairs of fives, but that will change when the plant grows older." The woman tells him passionately, in such a voice, that Iwaizumi almost feels like he should be taking notes. Would she test him on this later?

Sumire then pours the hot water including the leaves in a teacup. She douses the fire and walks out of the kitchen to bring the tea to her son. Iwaizumi stays behind for a few more seconds. He looks at the leave in his hand. Even with the description of Surime, he still can't picture what this plant looks like. What are umbels anyway?

Then he shrugs, puts the leave back on the counter and walks back to the living room. There Surime sits next to Oikawa on the couch.

"Smell this." She tells him and then she puts the mug in his hands.

Oikawa does what he is told and it looks like it almost immediately has an effect. He perks up and his eyes get a sharper look.

"This smells good, what is it mom?" He says while he brings the mug to his mouth.

"A very handy plant for these situations, I will show it to you later. Don't drink too much of it, it makes you drowsy when consumed." Surime explains, but she also looks thoughtful at her son. As if he just showed her something very important.

Iwaizumi looks at the scene with frowning brows. Is there something wrong with his nose? Why can't he smell all those smells?

"I didn't know you were so skilled with plants mom." Oikawa tells her proudly. "Why didn't you tell me about your hidden talent?"

Sumire laughs. "Oh no, I only know somethings about a few plants, but some information can be essential for surviving."

"It is essential for me apparently, maybe we should make a stock of this plant." Oikawa says thoughtfully. They probably need more of this if that monk stays.

"I will look at it tomorrow." Sumire stands up. "Now I really need to check on something. You guys will be fine alone right? There is a little more of the tea left in the kitchen, if you need it." She tells the two guys.

Oikawa nods and thanks her. "I am so lucky with you as my mom." He says happily.

That makes Sumire smile lovingly, but it doesn't reach her eyes completely. She looks again at the cup of tea in Oikawa's hands. "Well, at least I knew what to do this time." She sighs, and then she puts up a motherly smile and says goodbye.

Oikawa keeps smelling the tea with a content expression when she leaves the room. Iwaizumi stands now awkwardly in the middle of the room. He is still contemplating why he can't smell the leaves.

Oikawa then looks up and locks his gaze with Iwaizumi's. He gives him a lazy smile. "Well, in any case." Oikawa starts. "If I keep this up, then the monk won't pick me." He says.

Iwaizumi snickers "Yeah well, if I have to keep dragging you anywhere then I won't be chosen either." He walks to the couch and slumps down.

Oikawa rolls his head his way. "Yeah, thanks for that, Iwa-chan. I should start calling you my knight in shining armour. Maybe we should be looking for a white horse for you." Oikawa chants. 

Iwaizumi grumbles something and then he says. "Stupid, the white horse is for Prince Charming, not for a knight."

"Then be my Knight Charming?" Oikawa proposes, his brown eyes shining with mirth. He leans closer to Iwaizumi, but the tea in his hands prevents him from bending to close.

Iwaizumi feels his cheeks getting hot. He swallows thickly, but keeps himself calm. "I am learning be a hunter, not be a knight, Shittykawa." He reminds him. Oikawa directly looks dejected.

"Aw Iwa-chan, don't be so serious all the time." He wails. But Iwaizumi is already standing up from the couch, Oikawa's closeness suddenly gives him a weird feeling in his chest.

"At least someone has to." He says and then he remembers something he can use to excuse himself with. "Oh, and I need to go, my mom will be back home by now, so I want to check up on her."

Oikawa looks disappointed when Iwaizumi walks to the door. He is still pouting when he says. "Tell her I said hi, please."

Iwaizumi looks back, Oikawa appears to be completely fine by now, is it bad to walk away like this? "I will tell her, take it easy okay?" He answers with a smile.

Oikawa nods and says bye when Iwaizumi walks out of the door. Outside Iwaizumi frowns, this feels like running away, but Iwaizumi doesn't really understand what he is running from.

He decides to ignore his feelings and starts walking to his own home, a minute or so away from Oikawa's home. Oikawa's house is one on the outskirts of the town, but according to Sumire, it is the best place to be.

Iwaizumi's mother disagrees, she told him once that she actually hadn't wanted a home so close to the forest, and only bought this home because she could afford this while still having money for food and clothes.

In all his years living here, they never had issues with the forest, though. It might be crawling with monsters, but they never come close to the village. Maybe they are just lucky.

When Iwaizumi arrives home, he sees that his mother left him a note. 'I'm at the market. See you soon.' It says. Iwaizumi doesn't take off his shoes and decides to walk to the market.

Maybe he finds his mother there, then he could help her carry the groceries.

He walks over a gravel road to the center of the village. The street gets more crowded with every step he takes. On his way through the village Iwaizumi greets different people, but ignores others. He is not in the mood for long conversations right now and he exactly knows which people would never stop talking once they started.

The village is small enough to know everyone, at least Iwaizumi recognizes every face. The houses near the market are larger than the house he lives in. But they stand so close to each other, that there is not a lot of privacy. Iwaizumi is reminded at that every time he walks through these streets. The living on the outskirts of the village does have its advantages. 

The streets in the center of the village are paved with grey stones, which are more comfortable to walk on than on the gravel road. Although, only when you wear shoes. As a child Iwaizumi once played a chasing game with Oikawa, he remembers that he had run all the way into the village on bare feet. Iwaizumi had cut his food on a sharp stone and Oikawa had to piggyback him all the way back to his house. Oikawa had teased him about it for a whole week, but the guy also helped Iwaizumi where he could, so he was quickly forgiven. Besides, Iwaizumi could never stay angry at Oikawa for long.

When Iwaizumi finally arrives at the market, he is surprised by the sight of a large wooden stage in the middle of the square. Is there a public speaking planned today? He didn't know about that.

The stage is still empty, but there are already a lot of people gathered around it. Iwaizumi looks around and after a bit of searching he spots his mother at one of the stalls on the market.

He jogs to her side and surprises her with laying his hand on her shoulder. "Hey mom," he says softly when the woman looks around startled. She has the same dark hair as Iwaizumi, but she always wears it in a long braid. Wide olive green eyes look at him surprised, but they immediately gain a warm look when she sees who is standing behind her.

"Oh, Hajime! You scared me for a second." She says but then she puts her basket full of groceries down to enfold her son in a tight hug. "Hi there, I missed you." She says in his ear.

"You too." Iwaizumi answers and he slowly lets go of her. "Oh and Oikawa said hi." His mother looks up to him and puts her hand on his cheek. "Your nieces also said all hi, they were really sad that you couldn't come with me." She tells him.

Iwaizumi grins, "They were? The last time I went with you they were nagging about me and climbing all over me. I can't imagine they missed that." He says.

His mother lets go of him and looks at him fondly. 'You know they adore you." She grabs the basket and then turns to the sales man. After a brief conversation with the man she exchanges money for vegetables, which she puts in her basket. "Have a good day Masako, come again." The stall keeper tells her. Iwaizumi waves at him as thanks.

"How was your sister?" Iwaizumi asks Masako while they walk side by side. "Oh, Hiromi is good, and you won't believe it, but she is pregnant again!"

Iwaizumi looks at his mother in amazement. "But she already has four little girls." He gasps. His mother laughs at his reaction.

"Yes, that was my what I thought too! But Hiromi looks happy, she keeps telling me about how she wants to have a strong baby boy." Masako says. She takes a glance at her son. "She has seen how beautiful you’ve grown up to of course."

Iwaizumi scratches his neck in embarrassment. "I doubt that that is the case." He answers.

They walk to other stalls and his mother buys all the things she needed. "Anyway, I think she needs my help soon. She will get it rough with four little devils in that house. Especially when she needs to take care of the baby too. I will be going there for a while, to help in the house." Masako says when they finally are finished.

Iwaizumi scowls, but directly tries to hide that for his mother. "That is really kind of you, Hiromi can use your help." He says, but his thoughts are somewhere else. If his mother goes away, then what should he do? Should he come with her, or can he stay here? And then there is still the possibility that he and Oikawa are chosen to go to the capital. How should he communicate that with his mother?

"Hajime." His mother draws him out of his overthinking. "Don't worry about it okay. It is more than a month away before I will go over to her, so we have enough time to make plans. And you don't have to feel pressured to come with me. I know how much you like to go to that school of yours."

"It is a training camp, mom." Iwaizumi murmurs, but he nods. He will let it go for now. "Thanks for telling me about it." He tells Masako.

His mother puts the heavy basket down and stretches her back. "I know you like to know about these things honey." She then says to him with a wink.

"Let me carry the basket for you." Iwaizumi says and he takes the basket before his mother can protest. They walk away from the square, just when there is commotion at the stage.

Iwaizumi looks at the growing mass of people before the stage, who chant and cheer when a man climbs onto it. Then he recognises the robes and the already familiar face.

"Thank you everyone for coming here today!" Konou, the monk, speaks to the people.

No way, what is that man doing here? Masako sees her son looking at the stage. "Do you want to go closer?" She asks him.

But Iwaizumi shakes his head, he can hear the man from here and he doesn't want the monk to spot him.

They keep standing at the side of the square when the monk starts speaking to the people. He talks about the King and his ideal of cleansing the country of all evil and monsters. And how it is his job to find the monsters and keep the people save. But that he can't do this on his own. No, he says, he wants the people to look around for him. To keep an eye on strange sightings. Weird things are happening in the village, and the monk wants to find out what is the case.

"Since when are there weird things happening in this village. Did I miss something?" Masako asks him, but Iwaizumi shrugs his shoulders. He also doesn't know what the monk is talking about. The crowd seems to love him, though.

"Can we go now mom? I already heard this man's speech at the camp." He sighs. Masako immediately perks up and links her arm with her son's.

"Yes! Tell me about your days, and how was the dinner with Sumire and Oikawa?" She questions. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes at all the questions. "Oh, you don't even want to know." He says, but he starts telling her everything on their way back anyway.

\---

Iwaizumi keeps thinking about the monk’s speech. It is weekend so he doesn’t see Oikawa at the training camp. But he feels like this is something that Oikawa should now, especially after what his mother told them about monks.

In the afternoon, he goes over to Oikawa’s house, but before he can knock on the door, he sees something moving in the forest behind the house.

Iwaizumi’s instincts kick in and immediately he looks around for something that he can use as a weapon. He picks up the shovel that stands against the house and looks for cover behind the house.

He looks from around his cover to the forest, the silhouette in between the trees still moves but doesn’t comes closer right now. Iwaizumi looks around him, but doesn’t see anyone else nearby. Is Oikawa still inside? Should he warn him? Or would that only alert the thing in the forest?

The sun already stands low enough to make long shadows. The trees and plants give the shadow in the forest enough cover to stay hidden. But Iwaizumi sees it move, or rather, he sees the plants moving around it.

Would it be possible to get closer without it spotting him? Slowly Iwaizumi stands up and walks to the other side of the house. From this side, he will be approaching the silhouette from behind. With the shovel tight in his hand, he starts walking softly to the unknown thing.

Iwaizumi first slides into the forest. Here, behind trees and thick bushes, he has the most cover. Gradually he moves from tree to tree, while he watches closely where he walks. He doesn’t want to alert the shadow by stepping accidentally on a twig.

Iwaizumi is still a few meters away when he starts hearing a voice. He doesn’t recognise it, but it is undoubtedly male.

“I will visit him, anything else I need to tell him?”

Then another voice speaks up, but it is too soft to hear. Iwaizumi crawls a little closer to hear the rest of the conversation. He might be to curious for his own good. But didn’t the monk told them about weird things happening in the village? What if this is part of it?

When he gets close enough, he can hear another person answering the man.

“… and I don’t know what to do, he keeps showing more signs. I think it is time to tell him about it.” The soft voice whispers. Iwaizumi’s heart starts to beat faster when he recognises the voice.

He almost drops the shovel in surprise and in his attempt to catch it, he makes the bush next to him rustle. He curses himself and directly looks back at the place where the sound came from, did they hear them?

His suspicions are confirmed the second he looks up. In his peripheral vision, he sees a black bird flying into the forest, but he doesn’t give it a second thought.

Because all his attention is for the person that is sanding before him. The person in the forest, talking to the man, is no other than Oikawa’s mother.


	5. More monks, more trouble

"Iwaizumi? What are you doing here?" Sumire says surprised. She is holding a large fabric bag, which is bulging with plants.

Iwaizumi looks around and searches for the source of the other voice. But there is nobody here besides him and Sumire. "I thought there was a monster or something from the forest coming to the village, so I went investigating." He says while keeping an eye around.

Sumire gives him a phony laugh. "To be mistaken for a monster, that is a first for me." She teases.

Iwaizumi sputters. "What, no you are not a monster, I mean. I thought I saw something else, I didn't know it was you!" He waves his hand before his body in an apologetic gesture. That causes Sumire to look at the shovel Iwaizumi is still holding in his hand.

"You know that if I was dangerous that you wouldn't make it far with a shovel, don't you?" She grins.

Iwaizumi mumbles something like 'It is better than nothing' but then he apologizes again. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. I really thought that I heard someone else here."

Sumire shakes her head. "It is alright, don't worry. It was just me, gathering some more of the Aegopodium podagraria, do you want to see what the plant looks like?" She asks.

Iwaizumi scowls, but he really heard another man. Or is he now going mad? Although, Sumire looks perfectly fine. At least there is no danger here.

One last time he looks around in the forest, but nothing else is there but trees and plants. He sighs, then he looks back at Sumire, who is watching him closely.

"Yeah, that could come in handy." He agrees.

"Then come with me, it is not that far into the forest." She says and guides him deeper into the forest.

"Are you always going in here alone?" Iwaizumi asks in disbelieve while holding his shovel tighter in his hand. "You know there are monsters in here, do you?"

Sumire looks at him with a wistful expression. "Not everything that lives in this forest is a monster." She says softly.

Then they stop at a bush with plants that look exactly like Sumire's description. There are little white flowers at each top, on stalks that all come together in a common point.

It looks like the ribs of an umbrella, but then upside down, and with the flowers on each ending. "So that's an umbel." He says.

Sumire bends down and plucks something, when she stands again she hands it over to Iwaizumi. "Here you go." He accepts the leaves, with are perfectly together in a pair of sevens. "I will just call it seven-leaved plant, that is easier to remember than the Aegothingy something." Iwaizumi decides.

The woman shakes her head, but doesn't comment. "Let's take that one with us, I already have a lot in my bag. But let's not get this one to waste." Sumire tells him, while stroking past the white flowers with the tops of her fingers. She looks at the plant with an expression filled with wonder.

After a second she looks up. "Shall we head back then?" She asks Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi nods and hands over the leaves to Sumire, who puts it in her bag. Then the woman starts walking back to the house. Iwaizumi looks one more time at the plant and tries to remember every aspect of it. This is the miracle plant that helps against Oikawa's allergic.

Out of a whim he plucks another leave, puts it in his jeans pocket and then follows Sumire out of the forest.

Iwaizumi looks over his shoulder again when they walk past the last tree. He trusts Sumire, but he was sure that he heard another voice. Should he press the matter more and ask about it again?

"Oikawa is inside, I asked him to make dinner. He took the job very serious, since he already started before I left to gather the plants." Sumire interrupts Iwaizumi's thoughts. Iwaizumi looks back at her and grins. "Are you sure that you want to leave him alone in your kitchen?" He jokes.

"Well he can make a mess, but the results are always worth it..." she tells him. But Iwaizumi also notices her starting to walk faster to the house.

He follows her inside, and hears Sumire greet her son from the entrance. Oikawa yells a hello back from the kitchen.

"I need to take care of these leaves first, now they are still fresh." Sumire states before she disappears further into the house.

Iwaizumi takes of his shoes and walks right to the kitchen. He is directly amazed by the view of one very messy kitchen. Flour is laying on the counter, the table and even on the floor. Something that looks like the residues of vegetables are lying on one counter, the knife still next to it. The wrappers of the meat from the market are laying on the kitchen table and 3 of the 5 kitchen cabinets are standing wide open.

In the middle of all the mess stands Oikawa. He is working on something with intense concentration.

Iwaizumi stays standing in the kitchen entrance for a moment, totally enthralled by the others fluid movements thought the kitchen.

Then Oikawa notices him and turns around with a beaming smile. "Iwa-chan, look at this!" Oikawa says happily, while showing the other the most perfect looking chicken teriyaki in a pan. "It just needs to cook a little longer." Oikawa muses.

Iwaizumi's stomach starts growling already at the sight, but when he gets closer he can also smell the delightful scent of the food. "That looks really good." He admits.

Oikawa looks proud and continues with whatever he was doing. The brunet starts humming under his work. "Do you like to help with the desert? I was planning on making a cake." Oikawa asks then when Iwaizumi keeps looking at him.

Iwaizumi comes to stand next to Oikawa while rolling up his shirtsleeves, but then he halts his movements. "Eh, what can I do?" He asks sheepishly.

Oikawa grins and starts guiding Iwaizumi through the kitchen. Halfway Sumire briefly checks on them, but she sees that everything goes smoothly and lets her son being the conductor of the kitchen.

When the desert is done and everything is put on the table, Oikawa asks. "So, do you stay for dinner? We made enough." But Iwaizumi shakes his head.

"No sorry, my mother expects me for dinner, I can't leave her to eat it alone." Suddenly Iwaizumi remembers. "Actually, the reason I came here was to talk to you." He confesses.

Oikawa puts down everything in his hands and tilts his head questionably to the side. "What is it?" He asks in a small voice.

Then Iwaizumi explains about what he saw and heard at the market. About the monk and his speech, and how he was preaching about 'strange things that are happening in the village'. He doesn't tell Oikawa about his encounter with his mother in the forest yet. Iwaizumi doesn't know what to think about it himself, so he doesn't want to worry Oikawa unnecessarily.

"Hmm, so now that man even works in our village." Oikawa grumbles, a thoughtful expression covers his face. "This makes avoiding him even more difficult." He says.

"Yeah." Iwaizumi agrees. "Well, we will see what happens."

Oikawa nods and together they clean up the kitchen. When everything is done, Iwaizumi says "I'll head back then, my mom has probably already made our dinner."

"Ah wait a second." Oikawa chants, his mood turned happy again. The brunet gets a big knife and takes two slices of the cake. "Here take these with you, for you and your mother. She would love to eat your cake."

Well, Iwaizumi thinks, it is actually Oikawa's cake, he did most of the work. Iwaizumi just handed him the things he needed. But he accepts it with a smile. "Thanks, but I am sure that she immediately knows that you were the one who baked it, not me."

Oikawa slaps him on his back. "Give yourself more credit, Iwa-chan." He grins. And Iwaizumi just grins back. He wishes Oikawa and Sumire a good evening and then heads home with the cake.

His mother does figure out that Oikawa made the cake, but for Iwaizumi's sake, she just complimented it. After all, this way she would probably get even more of this kind of cake in the future.

\---

The weekend goes over quickly and the next training day comes way too soon. Oikawa and Iwaizumi arrive at the camp in on the early morning, to be directly confronted with a total change.

The camp is now filled with banners and pillars, all with the royal insignia. Iwaizumi counts at least four, no five more men walking around in monastic attire. Those monks are hanging incense all around the camp.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi are looking at each other in horror. This is not going well at all. Oikawa puts his sleeve before his nose and takes a deep sigh. "This is going to be a long day." He muffles into his sleeve.

"No, Oikawa. This isn't right. You can't just go willingly into an environment that will make you feel sick the whole time. You couldn't even stand after just one hour of exposure last time." Iwaizumi hisses.

But Oikawa disagrees "I can't just run away from it forever Iwa-chan. I want to train, I want to get stronger. If this is another challenge that I must face, then I will do it." He says fiercely.

"Are you stupid? You can't fight air! And what are you saying, this isn't running. How do you want to learn to fight when you can't even stand?" Iwaizumi argues. He can't imagine that Oikawa is this stubborn.

Oikawa is clenching his jaw, his eyes are blazing of energy. The brunet then starts to take a deep breath, but he immediately hunches when he feels the burning air going through his lungs. Oikawa starts couching, the blazing look slowly disappears out of his gaze.

Iwaizumi almost wants to say 'I told you so', but then he sees the forlorn expression coming over Oikawa's face. With a wheezing voice Oikawa asks. "But how will I be able to learn more, when I can't come here anymore?" He now looks at Iwaizumi defeated.

Iwaizumi doesn't have an answer to that. His competitiveness is totally drained out of him when he speaks again. "Maybe your mother has a solution? Can't she make something out of that miracle plant?" Iwaizumi questions softly.

Oikawa doesn't look convinced about that, but he accepts it. "Well, maybe I should sit today out then." He says with a low voice.

Iwaizumi lays a hand on the other's shoulder. "Don't you worry, we will find a way to get you back in here again. But right now, that might be the best thing to do." He agrees.

Oikawa nods. "Don't learn to much tricky tricks, I still want an honest opponent." He jokes.

Iwaizumi laughs. "Scared that you will lose from me?" He teases back.

"Of course not." Oikawa looks haughty, but Iwaizumi recognises a fear that he is very familiar with. The fear of not being strong enough. Of being not good enough. "Don't you worry, I will make notes for you. Now go home."

"Thanks. Bye Iwa-chan." Oikawa whispers. Then, after a last wave, the brunet turns around and walks back to where they came from.

After the endurance training, where they were closely watched by the new monks, Iwaizumi goes to his next class. He tells the teacher that Oikawa went home sick today and then gets to sit on a place in the back of the class.

Matsukawa spots him when he comes in the classroom. "He Iwaizumi, where is your other half?" He asks cheerfully.

"Other half?" Iwaizumi questions. A large grin starts spreading on Matsukawa's face. "Yeah, your better half. Come on, you two are practically married by the way that you are always together."

All of the sudden Iwaizumi understands what Matuskawa is trying to say. Iwaizumi feels a blush coming on his cheeks and he buries his head in his arms in an attempt to hide it.

"Ah, he is sick today." Iwaizumi grunts as an answer. Matsukawa goes to sit next to him, luckily unaware of Iwaizumi's embarrassment. "That's unfortunate. Well let's hope he gets better soon, otherwise the monk doesn't see him in action. And I am sure that Konou wants Oikawa in his Super Hunters team." Matsukawa chants.

Iwaizumi chuckles. "What? Super Hunters? Who came up with that."

Matsukawa blows his cheeks offended. "I did." He scoffs. Iwaizumi even laughs aloud now.

"What's so funny?" Hanamaki joins them. Iwaizumi looks at him. "What do you think of Matsukawa's team name, the Super Hunters?"

Hanamaki grins. "Super Hunters? That actually sounds really cool."

Matsukawa slams his hand on the table enthusiastically. "Yeah, right!"

"Totally." Hanamaki agrees and gives Matsukawa a high five.

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes. "You are all idiots." He murmurs with a smile still playing on his face.

But Hanamaki is already happily chatting with Matsukawa. "Isn't it awesome? The king is putting so much energy in this small training camp. I feel like we are really blessed to being able to train here."

Matsukawa agrees. "Well, this camp is close to the enchanted forest, so this is an adventurous place to invest in."

Iwaizumi thinks about that, maybe that the monk was just speaking of the forest when he preached at the marked? If that is why they are here, then they won't be going away any time soon.

He looks at the front of the classroom where the teacher starts his lesson, but his thoughts are with Oikawa.

He hopes Sumire finds a way for Oikawa to come back.


	6. The silver sphere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I hope you all're having a great summer. I certainly have. Enjoy while you still can <3\. 
> 
> Thanks for staying with this fic! It is a longer chapter this time, to make up for the time it took to post it.   
> Have fun reading. ヾ(＾∇＾)

Iwaizumi is nursing a glass of water on Oikawa's couch. "And you are sure that this will work?" He asks doubtful.

Oikawa nods enthusiastically. "Yes, we were working on it the whole day and improved it until you arrived here."

Iwaizumi came to bring Oikawa his notes directly after the training lessons were over. Now he is listening to Oikawa's plan of how he can return to the training camp. The brunet is talking about the pendant that is hanging on a leather cord around his neck. Oikawa explained Iwaizumi how they made it.

Surime had tried to make the seven-leaved plant in a cubic incense, but first she didn't have the right equipment to make it. After they visited the marked and bought the equipment needed, they managed to make something that resembled an incense at their third try.

After that, they made a few more cubics of dried leaves, squeezed together under a high pressure. These cubics should burn and hour or two, said Sumire. So, all Oikawa had to do was keeping these cubics of incense nearby him. And the best way to do that was, according to his mother, in an incense necklace.

The incense necklace is a silver sphere, the size of a chicken egg, with little holes in the top half. It is possible to disconnect the top half and bottom half with a little shackle at the front of the sphere. This way, the incense cube can be placed inside, but only the scent can escape out of the holes at the top.

The sphere hangs at the leather cord that is weaved through a little ring on the top of the sphere. It looks cool, but Iwaizumi isn't convinced that that small amount would work against all the incense at the camp. However, Oikawa is holding on this possibility with both hands.

Well, they can test it out tomorrow.

"Where is your mother anyway?" Iwaizumi changes the subject.

"Oh, outside gathering more plants. We used the whole stack in our experimenting." Oikawa says while playing with the sphere around his neck.

Iwaizumi frowns, does it cost that many plants just for a few hours of incense? He doubts that this is the solution for the long run.

\---

Even though Iwaizumi has doubts, he doesn't stop Oikawa from going to the training camp the next day.

There, everyone is too busy to notice Oikawa's new accessory. Well, everyone except from Matsukawa. "Oi, you got new jewellery Oikawa? What next? Earrings?" The boy says jokingly when the four friends were walking from their first lesson to the next.

Hanamaki then jabs Matsukawa in his ribs. "Don't be a jerk." He tells him, and to the others he says. "Actually he is jealous, Matsukawa was talking about the necklaces the whole lesson. I am starting to think that he wants just one like it." Hanamaki says while the tall boy starts sputtering.

"I don't want a necklace like that! I was just curious about it." Matsukawa sends Hanamaki a look that says 'traitor', but Hanamaki just grins back at him.

Oikawa beams and proudly while listening to the conversation. He takes the pendant of his neck under the watchful gaze of Iwaizumi and holds it out for Matsukawa to see.

"You won't be finding any of this on the market, though. My mother gave it to me and she got it from her mother." Oikawa says haughty but with a smile.

Both Matsukawa and Hanamaki lean forward to watch the object more closely. But they don't get the chance, because suddenly a hand snatches the pendant from Oikawa's hand.

"What is this? This object looks tainted with witchcraft." Konou says while he confiscates the pendant.

Oikawa looks at him with big eyes, he clearly hadn't smelled the monk, because he is just as surprised as the other three guys. Iwaizumi steps forward, subtly shielding Oikawa from the monk. "It is just a simple pendant, nothing tainted." He says with a gruff voice, face serious.

The monk looks at him inquisitive. "If it is nothing special, then you wouldn't mind me looking at it, right? You can't be careful enough." He smiles at them kindly, but something is off about that smile.

Iwaizumi is about to complain when Hanamaki speaks up. "Well, actually, Oikawa got it for his birthday from his mother. It would be mean to take his present away." The part about Oikawa's birthday is a lie, but Hanamaki noticed how persistent his friends are about getting the pendant out of the monk’s hands. He just plays his part.

The monk then looks at Oikawa. "Is that so? But your mother never wanted you to get hurt accidentally, right? How about I look at it right now, then you can have it back at the end of the day." The monk proposes.

Oikawa grits his teeth and is trying very hard to not breath to much through his nose. Iwaizumi can almost see the inner struggle the guy is dealing with. He doesn't want to let the monk have the pendant, but if he keeps arguing, then the monk would only give him more attention. Besides, without the pendant Oikawa starts smelling all the weird scents again, and it is making him more and more itchy.

Konou is still waiting for a response when Oikawa sighs and looks at Iwaizumi. The pain is present in his eyes but still the brunet agrees with the monk. "Yes, thanks for looking at it. Iwillpicktituplater." The last words are spoken so quick that even Iwaizumi needs a moment to comprehend what his friend is saying.

But before the monk could say anything else or clear it up, Oikawa turns around and walks away swiftly. Iwaizumi sees his tens back retreating to a more deserted area of the camp.

"Yes. We will pick it up later." Iwaizumi translates Oikawa's last words and then quickly walks after the brunet. He trusts Hanamaki and Matsukawa to keep the monk busy.

\---

Oikawa is faster than Iwaizumi thought, and the little moment in which he talked to the monk, was all the brunet needed to disappear. Iwaizumi walks now in the more deserted part of the camp, where the food, weapons and other equipment is stocked. Was this the way Oikawa was going to?

The next lesson must have started, because when Iwaizumi looks around over the crates and boxes that stand everywhere, he doesn't see anyone. Not even one of those monks that are now walking everywhere in the camp. But he does see something else. Another incense bowl hangs on a lamppost. Of all the places Oikawa could walk to, the dumbass walked right into a place where the air is heavy with herbs.

"Oikawa." Iwaizumi whispers harshly. "Where are you?"

He doesn't want to alert anyone so he keeps his voice low. But he gets a wrenching feeling in his stomach, like something is not right. Not seeing his friend anywhere actually makes him more nervous than talking to the monk.

Iwaizumi almost walks past it, but then he hears a little sound from behind a large gantry filled with boxes. Slowly he walks around it, and there he sees something huddled next to a barrel.

"Oikawa?" Iwaizumi asks more carefully this time. This is not the behaviour he usually knows from his friend. He walks closer and sees Oikawa sitting on the ground with his knees against his chest and his ands hidden between his legs and torso. His head leans against a knee, and the brunet is breathing heavily.

"Oikawa? Why are you hiding here, what's wrong?" Iwaizumi asks now louder, a little panic steeps into his voice. But Oikawa doesn't respond. The brunet keeps his eyes screwed close and head down.

Then Iwazumi hears him murmuring something, but it is too soft. He crouches before the guy.

"Hey, it is okay-." Iwaizumi says while reaching for the other. But the second his hand makes contact with Oikawa's shoulder, Iwaizumi is pushed back hard against the ground.

Two heavy but sharp things are holding his shoulders against the ground, preventing him from getting up. Disoriented Iwaizumi looks up and meets two heated brown eyes, scowling down at him.

Oikawa is pinning him against the ground.

It takes two heartbeats, but then the gaze in those eyes changes. Oikawa looks shocked at Iwaizumi. He directly flinches back, like he is burned. The brunet falls back with his hands displayed on the floor, and Iwaizumi then sees - the same time he feels something warm seeping down from his shoulders - Oikawa's nails formed into thick dark claws.

"Iwa-chan." Oikawa whispers, but his voice pitches higher when he looks down at Iwaizumi's shoulders. "I am so sorry, I don't know what's happening to me. You're bleeding!" He says scared.

Iwaizumi sits up and feels pain flaring in both his shoulders. He brings his hand to one shoulder and brings it back before his eyes, with blood still on it. After a quick scanning, it appears to be only a superficial scratch.

Oikawa wants to reach forward to help but then he sees his own hands again. Slowly he lowers them, and Iwaizumi sees him more distressed than he has ever seen.

"It doesn't hurt." He lies. "It's just a scratch. But tell me, why of all places did you hide here? And what is wrong with your hands?" Iwaizumi asks while looking at the others hands again.

Oikawa breathes in heavily but that makes his eyes only more watery. "I don't know. Just, one moment everything was fine, but after Konou got my pendant... it started burning. Everything burns. And I don't even know how I got here. I just wanted the burning to stop, Iwa-chan."

Iwaizumi frowns, that doesn't sound good at all. He looks around and sees that they are still alone. No one to rat them out, but also no one to help them.

Then Iwazumi remembers something. He starts rumbling through his pockets, wasn't this the pocket in which he put a leave of the seven-leaved plant? His fingers then brush past a scrunched object. Iwaizumi gets it out of his pocket and is happy to see the leave still intact, but a little dry.

"Can this help?" He says while waving the leave before Oikawa's face.

The brunet's eyes, that were already glazing over again, then fixate on the leave. He shakes his head. “Not without fire or hot water.” He croaks out. Iwiazumi nods and puts the leave in his pocket again, his expression sullen.

Oikawa looks at his friend though heavy-lidded eyes and then says with a pained face. "I hurt you. I attacked you Iwa-chan. Why are you still here?"

That makes Iwaizumi more agitated than getting scratched did. "Why I am still here?" He repeats indignant. "What are you talking about, Shittykawa. We are friends. We help each other whenever we can, and right now you are in trouble."

"But I am only making trouble for you, never the other way around." Oikawa pants, with a tremble in his voice that travels through his whole body.

Iwaizumi pushes the leave in Oikawa's hands. "You don't get it, do you? I don't care what's happening to you. I just want you to not die and be safe. And you are wrong, you don't know in how many ways you are helping me. So don't whine about me trying to help you. Just let me." Iwaizumi finishes with an extended hand.

A trembling hand with black thick nails is slowly placed in his one. Iwaizumi sees Oikawa's eyes locked on his hands, but the gesture speaks volumes. The brunet agreed without words.

"Let me at least look at your shoulders Iwa-chan. I can't bear to see you hurt." Oikawa says softly when he is standing upright again.

Iwaizumi agrees. "Okay, but later. We first have to get that pendant back, you cannot function when you are this feverishly. Look at you, you are shaking."

Oikawa follows his friend out of the stocking place. But before they are back at the more crowded area of the camp, Iwaizumi stops. "And don't just walk away again blindly, okay? What if I hadn't found you. Keep using that smart mind of yours." He says with a gruff voice.

Oikawa looks at him and sees then how stressed his friend is. With an apologetic smile Oikawa answers. "I will try to get more control over it next time. But it worked out this time. You found me and brought me back from my clouded mind." He beams at his friend in a way that can only be described as cute or stupid.

Iwaizumi decides to call it stupid. He starts being very conscious of the warmth that radiates from Oikawa's hand into his. But he tries to ignore the warm feeling that even spreads into his stomach. This is not the time.

First, get back the pendant.

\---

Iwaizumi placed Oikawa to the sides of the camp, against the brunt’s wishes. "I can come with you Iwa-chan." He had said. But Iwaizumi didn't want to hear any of it.

The tent of Konou was easily found. The monk himself wasn't here, but another one was. And when Iwaizumi looked into the tent, he could just see the desk of the monk, and on that, exactly what he was looking for. The pendant didn't seem messed with. Maybe the monk decided it not that dangerous, he wouldn't let it lay on his desk if it was dangerous, right?

"Excuse me." Iwaizumi says in the front of the monk’s tent, to get the attention of the monk. "I was supposed to pick up a pendant form monk Konou right now." He improvises.

The monk, a young man with his head shaved bold, looks at him surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be in class, boy?" The man says with a gentle voice.

Iwaizumi's brow quirks when he is called boy, the man doesn't look very older than him. "Yeah, I need to go right back, so actually I don't have much time... " he tries while looking around as if he is in a hurry.

"I didn't hear master Konou saying anything about you coming here, though." The monk says, but he also sees the pendant on the desk of his master.

"He must have thought that he would be here himself. But sir, I really need to go back, can you please give me the pendant? Then I will thank monk Konou later personally for looking at it." Iwaizumi says with his best manners, and that appears to work. The monk nods and picks the pendant up at the leather cord. He looks at it for a second and then says. "You are sure that Master Konou approved that this thing is clean? Because it looks like it contains special herbs"

Iwaizumi nods. "Yes, he told me himself." This probably will get him in trouble later. But the pendant is so close, the monk can’t change his mind now.

"Well, get on with it then, boy. We don't want you to miss too much of the important lessons." The monk finally says while handing over the pendant.

"Thank you, sir." Iwaizumi answers and then quickly walks away from there. He doesn't want to run into Konou.

Oikawa is still waiting where Iwaizumi left him. "Here, put it on and hide it under your shirt." He says with his gruff voice.

Oikawa looks at him with wonder. "How did you-?" He starts but Iwaizumi then spots the monk he just wanted to avoid.

"Never mind that, let’s go to our next lesson, Konou is walking this way." Iwaizumi pushes Oikawa forward. They disappear around the corner before they can be spotted.

\---

The next of the day went smoothly. Or at least, that was what Iwaizumi thought. Oikawa lent Iwaizumi his own sweater because his was bloody and teared. The brunet still had a sleeveless shirt under that and he kept insisting that he wasn't cold and that Iwaizumi should wear his sweater.

Oikawa's weird nails weren't noticed by anyone, because Oikawa kept his hands against himself as if he was cold. At the end of the day, the nails were almost normal again. Oikawa still checked them every now and then, even when they got home. They went to Iwaizumi's house, because that was closer to the training camp.

The moment they entered the house, Oikawa ushered Iwaizumi to the kitchen. There he sits him down at the kitchen table. "Take that off." He says while pointing to his sweater.

Iwaizumi complies and pulls it over his head but hisses when he feels the scratches on his shoulders burn. Oikawa looks at him with a critical gaze. "You should've let me look at that sooner." He says sternly.

"Not in the camp." Iwazumi disagrees.

"Where do you have your first aid kit?" Oikawa then asks while looking in a drawer in the kitchen. He thought that it lay here, but he can’t find it.

"I left it in the bathroom last time I used it, left cabinet." Iwaizumi says monotonous. "I can get it for you."

"No need, stay here, I will find it." Oikawa places his hand a moment on Iwaizumi's arm to keep him there.

"Okay." Iwaizumi agrees softly and the brunet leaves with a reassuring smile.

The moment Oikawa leaves the room, Iwaizumi's mother comes down from the first floor. "Hajime? I didn't hear you come home. Oh! what happened to your shoulders!" The woman is directly besides her son when she sees that he is hurt.

"It is nothing. Just a scratch." Iwaizumi answers quickly to ease her worry.

"But how did you get this? It almost looks... animalistic. What attacked you?" Masako says while bending forward to take a closer look at the scratches. Over her shoulder, Iwaizumi can see Oikawa lingering in the doorway. He is holding the first aid kit tightly in his hands and at his face is a forlorn expression.

"It was nothing dangerous, mom. And Oikawa is here to patch me up, can you give him his space please?" He asks his mother.

Masako looks behind her and sees the brunet. "Ah, Oikawa. You really are a great help, Iwaizumi would be lost without you. Please watch over him when I can't, will you?" She says with a loving voice.

Oikawa gives her a pained smile. "I will. I promise." He states.

That pleases Masako enough. She agrees and steps away from her son. Before she goes, she fills two glasses with water and put them before the boys on the table. “If you need any help, just call me. I am upstairs.” She tells them and then leaves to finish the chores she was working on.

Oikawa keeps standing a few meters from Iwaizumi, deep in thought. After a moment, Iwaizumi breaks the silence. "You heard her, you are not only trouble but also a great help for me." He says, starting about the subject again.

Oikawa grimaces and walks closer. "She didn't know the whole story. You think she would still say that after she heard that I gave you those scratches?" He whispers so only Iwaizumi would hear him.

Iwaizumi shrugs but immediately regrets that. "You are still here to patch me up, so yes, I think she will. And don't be an idiot. You have hurt me more in the past with our sword practices than with this."

"But this is different." Oikawa says while he starts cleaning the wounds with a wet cloth.

"How is this different?" Iwaizumi asks while flinching slightly from Oikawa's touch.

The brunet halts his movement and looks with his dark brown eyes deep into Iwaizumi's. "This time I lost control. It wasn't an accident Iwa-chan. I wanted to attack you." He says, his voice deep and low.

"It was that incense that got into your head." Iwaizumi says to defend him. But Oikawa shakes his head and starts to get the band-aids out of the kit. The rest of the patching up goes in silence.

Iwaizumi stays still. Oikawa knows what he is doing, he trusts him with that. After all, they needed to patch each other up a lot in the past. The moment Oikawa is done and shuts the first aid kit again, he starts talking in a low but determined voice.

"If I keep causing you trouble, just by being in the camp, then maybe I shouldn't be this selfish and stop coming to practice."

Iwaizumi looks at his friend in surprise. "What, where does that come from?" He asks right away.

Oikawa doesn't meet his gaze when he continues. "I've been thinking, if I am allergic for the things the King's men use against the monsters, then how would I ever be able to fight in his army? What if I am just not made for that?"

Iwaizumi stands up from the chair and puts the first aid kit in the drawer again, where it actually belongs. "But it is your dream to become stronger. You can't just let that go that easily."

"I don't." Oikawa tells him with a hard voice. Now he is finally looking at his friend. "This decision wasn't easy. And it isn't just that simple. I just..." Oikawa sighs and throws his hands in the air. "Never mind." He says while he turns around to walk away.

But Iwaizumi follows him. "We are not done talking about this. You talk like you already decided to stay away from the camp. You can't accept defeat this easily." He says roughly.

Oikawa twirls around and Iwaizumi almost collides with his chest. "I am not accepting any form of defeat." Oikawa says angry. "I still want to become stronger. But I am not going to do that at these costs. Not now, not at the expense of you." He finishes hotly, while pointing his finger to Iwaizumi’s chest.

Iwaizumi looks up at his friend, times like this he hates Oikawa's length. "There must be another thing we can try. We can ask the monks if they have something against your allergy, you can't be the first." He says, trying to change Oikawa's mind.

"No, we did this all to avoid the monks. And I am not going to run to them now. My mom told me to stay away from them for a reason." Oikawa disagrees and goes to stand with his arms crossed. Iwaizumi automatically mirrors his stance.

"And what exactly was that reason. Did she ever tell you that?" Iwaizumi asks, voice dripping with distrust.

Oikawa looks taken aback from that. He literally takes a step backwards and looks at his friend with disbelief. "Do you not trust my mom, Iwa-chan?"

"I didn't mean that I don't trust her..." Iwaizumi tries to make it right. But he doesn't know how to voice his next thoughts. How to tell your best friend that something about his mother is not adding up?

He takes too long because Oikawa's face changes in something hard. "If you don't trust her. Trust me." He says. "We are not going to the monks, because they are dangerous. Now I need to get back home."

"Wait. Oikawa." Iwaizumi stops him before he walks in the hallway. He knows that if Oikawa goes away now, that he’d keep sulking. And Iwaizumi already regrets what he has said. He might not trust Oikawa’s mother completely, after what he had seen in the woods, but he didn’t mean to offend the brunet. He trusts Oikawa, after all.

The brunet sighs and looks back at his friend. His gaze flicks to Iwaizumi’s shoulders and Iwaizumi can see the guilt that shines in those brown eyes. Iwaizumi fusses his hand through his hair and bend his head shamefully.

"Look, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to fight." He says, his voice softer this time. "You just surprised me with all of this. But I don't want to be the reason you stop trying to go to the training."

Oikawa already shakes his head. "I'm sorry too, Iwa-chan." He says. But for Iwaizumi it isn't enough. He knows he didn't change Oikawa's mind, and he probably can't when the brunet is this determined. But maybe he can compromise.

"If there is another way, then we will find it. Just give it a little more time." He urges.

Oikawa looks at him thoughtfully but then he nods. "Yeah, okay. But no more than a few days." He tells him. And then somewhat softer he says again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry."

But Iwaizumi just lays his hand on the other shoulder. "Don't you worry, you were in your right." He says friendly.

Oikawa looks down at him and smiles. "Take care of your shoulder, Iwa-chan. Then I am going to do something I should have done earlier."

"And what is that?" Iwaizumi asks curiously.

"To find out what's wrong with me. I'm going to ask my mother what she knows, and I am not stopping until she told me everything." Oikawa says while pulling his fist in the air heroically.

Iwaizumi chuckles at the dramatic display of his friend, which owns him a fond look of the brunet.

"You were right about that after all, she hasn't told me everything jet. I trust her, but maybe it is time to know everything myself." Oikawa says clearly.

Then he waves and walks to the exit. "I will update you later, Iwa-chan. Don't work your shoulders to hard." Oikawa says.

"It's just a scratch!" Iwaizumi yells after him, but smiles in himself after the brunet closes the door.

\---

"That pendant was certainly the work of a witch." Konou says. He sits at his desk, surrounded by the other five monks from the camp.

"I am terribly sorry master Konou, I didn't realize it. I shouldn't have given it back to the boy." One of the monks apologies, he looks scared at what Konou will say.

"No, it is alright. It was a good thing, now they don't think we suspect anything. And the boys probably don't know in how much danger they are right now."

The monk that gave Iwaizumi the pendant this morning pales when he gears that. "Danger?" He swallows thickly.

"Yes, this witch could be the key for getting this village save. She might have been contacting the monsters in the woods. We need to take her in as soon as possible." Konou says determined.

What he doesn't share with the rest of the monks yet, is that he starts suspecting that there is something wrong with the Oikawa boy. Now he knows that that boy’s mother might be involved into witchcraft, it makes more sense for him. The boy kept reacting strangely to the incense he put up in the camp. Konou has never seen a human react like that.

He doesn't react like a fully monster, but also not like a human. Strange. Maybe the witch-crafting of his mother affected him in a way.

For now he keeps it that himself, but he can't wait to find out what is happening. If witches found a way to enhance humans, then the King has to know about it. Then he stands up from his chair. He looks around, watching every man for a moment, and orders. "Everyone, prepare to head out. At the first rays of the sun, we will take this witch into custody."

The other monks confirm their mission and look full of energy to their leader. This day they will save the village from evil.


	7. Let this be a lie

The rest of the evening, Iwaizumi doesn't hear anything from Oikawa. He thought that the brunet would come to him after he talked to his mother, but apparently he was wrong.

Before he goes to sleep he takes of his band-aids and takes a shower. The warm water burns his scratches on his shoulder, but it also washes away the dried blood. After Iwaizumi dries himself with a fluffy towel, he looks at his shoulders in the mirror. The skin is red, but it will be fine.

However, he wants it covered once more for the night. He doesn’t want to bleed on his bedsheets. Applying the bands on his shoulders is harder than he thought, and it takes him a lot of time. He could have asked his mother for help, but he didn't want her to ask more questions about it. Because then he needs to lie to her again, and he isn’t sure if she would believe him this time. No, it is better if he does it himself.

Iwaizumi checks up on his mother before he goes to bed, but the woman had already fallen asleep on her desk. Iwaizumi looks at what she was working on. On the desk lies woollen threads, needles and warm cloths. His mother was making clothes!

Iwaizumi frowns at the size, it looks way too small for both of them. Then he suddenly remembers. She would be going to her sister soon. Then this must be for the baby.

Softly he nudges his mother’s shoulder. "Mom, if you sleep here, your back will hurt tomorrow." He whispers. Masako slowly opens her eyes and Iwaizumi then starts to guide her to her bed.

"That the day would come that you would bring me to bed." His mother yawns. Then she lays her hand on Iwaizumi's cheek. "You've grown in such a responsible man."

"Go to sleep, mom." Iwaizumi chuckles.

"Mmm. Proud of you." Masako murmurs and then closes her eyes again. It doesn't surprise Iwaizumi to see her falling asleep the moment she lays down again. He pulls the covers closer around his mother and softly walks out of the room.

It is a good thing that no one could see him now. It would ruin his brusque reputation.

\---

Iwaizumi was sleeping for not more than two hours, when he hears something ticking on his window. Which is unusual, because he sleeps at the first floor.

He walks out if his bed to the window and is not that surprised to see Oikawa standing beneath his window, some pebbles still in his hand. While walking down Iwaizumi reflects how weird his friendship with the brunet must be, when a visit in the middle of the night doesn't surprise him anymore.

He only wears jogging pants when he opens the door, and immediately regrets that he hadn't picked a shirt on his way down. He pulls his arms around his chest against the night's cold and looks at the brunet who now waits before his doorstep. ‘Yo.’ Is all he says with his voice still rough from sleep.

"Hey Iwa-chan. Can we talk?" Oikawa asks with a little smile. He is playing with the hem of his jacket and looking around suspiciously, as if he is checking if someone is watching them.

"Aren't we doing that already?" Iwaizumi grumbles, he is rubbing his hand on his face, trying to wake himself up completely. "And this can't wait till tomorrow morning, can it?"

Oikawa doesn't say anything but shakes his head. Iwaizumi then sighs but let his friend inside the house. "Be quiet then, I don't want to wake up my mother." He whispers when he walks into his kitchen.

The brunet keeps standing in the middle of the room, he is looking at his feet. His normally straight posture is turned in something dejected, his shoulders tense, head hanging low. Iwaizumi is looking at his friend with concern, he is making tea for himself and automatically gets two cups out of the cupboard. Oikawa stays silent, so Iwaizumi also doesn't make any attempt to talk.

When the tea is ready, he gives Oikawa his cup and walks to the couch in the living room. Oikawa mummers a 'thanks for the tea' and follows him to the couch, where he goes to sit next to Iwaizumi, but not as close as usual. There could sit another person in between them.

Iwaizumi is observing the brunet with growing concern. He sips his tea and when the silence stretches out, he finally speaks up.

"So, what is so important that you had to wake me up in the middle of the night? Not that I mind you being here this late, but we also need to be at training tomorrow at 8. Or today at 8. Anyway, speak so we can sleep again."

Oikawa gives him a little smile. "You know I think it is only tomorrow, when you have slept and woken up. Otherwise you just have a really long day." He claims with a cocky shimmer in his eyes.

But that shimmer fades away quickly when he catches himself. Oikawa's face gets serious. He takes a long breath and puts his mug of tea on the table before the couch. Iwaizumi keeps looking at him intently, waiting for he-doesn't-know-what. He feels the atmosphere changing, suddenly the conversation isn't casual anymore.

"I've talked to my mother. She explained me everything and... Iwa-chan, I need to leave the town." Oikawa then says in a low voice. His eyes are locked on Iwaizumi's, measuring his reaction.

Iwaizumi just raises his brows. He didn't expect that. "Oh okay, where are we going then?" He asks with genuine interest.

That is apparently the wrong thing to ask, because Oikawa frowns and looks down to his hands. He shakes his head and then says softly. "We are not going anywhere, Iwa-chan."

Iwaizumi hears what the brunet tells him, but he doesn't understand. He puts his tea cup on the table and goes to sit straighter. "Okey... Then when will you be back? Should I make notes of the things you missed at the training camp?"

Oikawa looks back up at his friend, his lips are pressed tightly together, and in his brown eyes are hints of what only can be described as fear. The brunet swallows slowly and then he answers with a steady voice. "I will not."

This time it is Iwaizumi's turn to frown. "What do you mean? You are going away and you won't come back?" A dreading feeling starts to spread in his insides. What is happening?

"I am sorry, but I cannot explain it. Just trust me that it would be safer to leave the town." Oikawa says. He hunches under Iwaizumi's judging gaze.

"Then I am coming with you. We are stronger together, and you need someone to keep your delusional greatness in check." Iwaizumi says, his low attempt to joke doesn't fall well on the other, though.

"No. You must stay here. It is too dangerous." Oikawa says rough. He starts to stand up, and Iwaizumi directly mirrors his movements.

"You can't decide that for me, Shittykawa. Didn't we promise each other to face our demons together. If you want it or not. If you are going to face danger, then I am going with you. You are my best friend, I will not abandon you when it gets rough." Iwaizumi starts speaking harder and his expression becomes determined.

Oikawa looks like he got slapped in the face by the kind words. His hands clench into fists next to him. "Listen Iwaizumi, you really can't come. I need to do this by myself."

"Give me one good reason." Iwaizumi states irritated. "Why shouldn't I?"

The brunet doesn't speak up immediately. He looks at a place over Iwaizumi's shoulder. The cold feeling in Iwaizumi's stomach only gets heavier when he sees his friend’s forlorn expression.

"Tooru." Iwaizumi says then, using Oikawa's given name. That affects the other, but not in the way Iwaizumi hoped to accomplish.

Oikawa's expression turns unreadable, and when he looks at Iwaizumi again, he does it with a cold look.

"Can't you see." He says disdainful. "I don't want you to come with me." His voice is tight but his eyes keep boring into Iwaizumi's.

The next words hit Iwaizumi harder than a fist in his stomach. "I am done with you. I don't want you around anymore. I came here to say farewell. That was all."

Oikawa then turns around and starts walking away, out of the living room. Iwaizumi looks after him, rooted at his spot, filled with horror. The words pierced him like a sharp blade. He watches Oikawa getting away in growing confusion.

This cannot be real. He knows Oikawa better than anyone. He knows when the brunet is lying.

And he just did. He must have. Iwaizumi must have overlooked the signs because he was distracted by the hateful words. He feels pain blossoming in his chest, like he is bleeding from inside.

This must be a lie. Let this be a lie.

Iwaizumi muscles suddenly get back into motion, and he sprints out of the room, running after Oikawa for the third time in 24 hours. And he curses his friend and curses himself, that he let Oikawa get away, again.

The brunet is already walking past the little hut besides the house when Iwaizumi walks out of the door. With big steps, he stomps after Oikawa and within moments he catches up to him. Iwaizumi grabs the guy at his collar and shoves him against the outside wall of the hut.

Oikawa, who clearly hadn't expected him, is pushed with his back against the wall. Iwaizumi might be smaller than him, but now he is pinning the brunet against the cold stone, and he is seething. "You egoistic prat." He spats while he grabs Oikawa's collar.

"Don't you dare to walk out on me like that. You really think I would believe that??" His eyes are blazing with anger and hurt. He doesn't want to believe it. But what if Oikawa's words are really the truth.

Oikawa is looking back at him in shock. It takes Iwaizumi a moment to notice, but then he sees the tears swimming in the dark brown pools that are looking down at him. Iwaizumi immediately loosens his hold on the brunet. “Oikawa?”

The brunet let's out a strained sound and leans his head defeated against the wall. His eyes screwed shut. There is nothing left of the haughty and strong composure the guy used to push Iwiazumi away.

"Please, Iwa-chan." The trembling voice says, "Don't make this any harder, just let me go." Oikawa begs him.

Iwaizumi’s angers washes away by the sight of his friend tears, but he doesn’t give up.

"Then please explain it to me." Iwaizumi pleads in return. But Oikawa shakes his head.

"I can't, I am sorry. It is for your own protection, you can't know." Oikawa's voice is strained. He brings his hands up and lays them on Iwaizumi's chest, not pushing his away, but keeping him in place.

Iwaizumi is so confused. "Then don't tell me, just let me come with you. Please Tooru."

"Hajime. Stop it." Oikawa says, also using Iwaizumi's given name. Involuntary it warms Iwaizumi to hear his name from Oikawa's mouth.

But at the same time, he hates it. That Oikawa uses his given name, only affirms how close they have become. Why does he use it now, only when he is planning to leave?

Iwaizumi looks at the sad brown eyes and sees a tear trailing down Oikawa's cheek. He let go of Oikawa's collar with one hand, and brings it to Oikawa's face. Terribly slow, he wipes away the tear.

Oikawa bites his lip to stop it from trembling. Iwaizumi looks at the others lips and then locks his gaze again with Oikawa's. He sees something shifting in those eyes. And just when he opens his mouth to speak to protest again, he is silenced.

Oikawa presses his lips onto Iwaizumi's, with such fierce and raw emotions that Iwaizumi almost stagers away. He grips the others collar tighter to keep his balance and opens his mouth in surprise.

Immediately Oikawa takes advantage of that and suddenly Iwaizumi feels a warm tongue over his lips. A deep sigh escapes Iwaizumi and all the tension disappears from his body.

The emotions that pour into him are so pure, but Iwaizumi also feels Oikawa trembling against him. He wonders how this guy can does this. How can he kiss him right now with such passion, while telling him that he goes away, to never come back.

But then his thoughts are silenced by the soft sob that escapes Oikawa's mouth. A strong urge of protecting what is his washes over Iwaizumi and without thinking, he pulls the taller guy closer.

Iwaizumi leans heavily into the kiss. His hands at Oikawa's collar are moving up into the brown dishevelled hair. And Oikawa's hands respond with wrapping themselves around Iwaizumi's back, holding him even closer.

Then it is just as suddenly over as it is started. Oikawa draws back with a deep shakily breath. "I am sorry." He repeats with a broken voice. "They will come for me, and I need to be sure that you are safe. Let me be selfish this one last time, Iwa-chan." He whispers.

Then he steps out of Iwaizumi's grip, and walks away from the wall. Iwaizumi, still baffled from the kiss, watches the brunet walking away. Just before he rounds the corner, he looks back.

"Don't come looking for me, Hajime." Oikawa pleads. Then he looks back and turns around the corner.

Iwaizumi stays behind. Frozen on his place. His mind screams at him to follow the guy. But his legs won't move.

He can still taste Oikawa's tears on his lips.

He doesn't know how long he stands there, until he hears movement at the door. He looks back and sees his mother standing there. "Was that Oikawa?" She asks with a sleepy voice. "What did he want?" She wonders.

Iwaizumi opens his mouth to speak. But there comes no sound. He can't tell her Oikawa came to say farewell. He can't voice out loud that Oikawa left.

Emotions, daring to overflow, boil inside him. And it is too much. "I need some air." He croaks and then rushes away from his house. Rushes away in the other direction than Oikawa's home, to the center of the village.

He doesn't see where he is walking. He is just going away.

Accidently he walks into another person. "Ah, Sorry." Iwaizumi manages to tell the man, who is surrounded by a group of people. But he doesn't look twice at them and doesn't care about what those people are doing here in the middle of the night. He just walks past them, his mind still in a haze.

Therefore, Iwaizumi doesn't recognize the man he ran into as the monk who gave him Oikawa's pendant. Konou, who was walking next to the monk does recognize Iwaizumi, though.

The other monks are now watching their leader, waiting for his order. But Konou quietly shakes his head. That boy's eyes didn't even see them. He won't be in their way.

Soundlessly, the monks continue their way, in the direction of Oikawa's house.

Iwaizumi just walks onward, but to nowhere specific. He is running away. But with every step, the nagging feeling of him going the wrong way grows.

It isn't until the end of dawn that Iwaizumi finally listens to that feeling and walks back. But by that time, it is already too late.


	8. They will come for me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for graphic descriptions of violence. And whooyeah, we are almost back in the present ~

Iwaizumi has been walking for a great time of the night. First to ease his anger, but later to think about everything some more. Oikawa is going away, and he doesn't want him to follow him. That was clear now.

But then he kissed him?

Iwaizumi still doesn't know what to think about that. Was it Oikawa's way to say farewell? If that is the case, then Iwaizumi wished Oikawa had never kissed him.

He liked it more than he had thought he would. He must admit that he had thought about kissing. In general. Only in general. Not about kissing Oikawa, no. It was always just some random person. Mostly a brunet. But that doesn't have any relation with Oikawa at all.

A real kiss was much softer than he had imagined. Oikawa's lips were softer than he'd ever thought. Scratch that, lips in general, not Oikawa's. He also strangely liked the way Oikawa's tongue felt over his.

But holding his friend that close, and being held just as tightly by the brunet... Iwaizumi hasn't felt that complete ever in his life.

Still, he is willing to trade his experience of kissing Oikawa, if that would give him Oikawa back for somewhat longer. With a pain in his heart, which Iwaizumi doesn't want to understand, he wishes he never had that farewell kiss.

Iwaizumi kicks a pebble on the road away in frustration, and immediately swears when feels the pain in his toes. Right. He didn't put on shoes before he walked outside. Idiot.

When the first rays of sunshine start to warm Iwaizumi's back, he is finally calmer. By this time the worry starts to creep up to him.

Oikawa was talking about someone, or about some people. What did he tell him again? 'They will come for me'? Who are they, and why would they come after Oikawa of all people?

Oikawa hadn't done anything wrong, did he? He hardly came to the camp to train, but that cannot be a reason to go after Oikawa, right?

Iwaizumi starts wreaking his brain. Can it be about Oikawa's amazing swordsmanship? Do they want Oikawa for his power? But then again, Oikawa would not run from that. Just like with the monks, he didn't want to go the capital first, but after the brunet thought about it, he liked to go with them as long as Iwaizumi would go with him.

Those thoughts make him frown. Then his companionship was the only reason that Oikawa would want to leave the village. Something big must have changed to make Oikawa change his mind.

However, the only thing that could have changed him between now and the last time Iwaizumi saw Oikawa, was the talk with his mother about his allergy. Suddenly Iwaizumi remembers, Oikawa started talking about that, about how his mother told him everything. Though how can knowing about something bring Oikawa in sudden danger?

No, it must be something else. But Iwaizumi can't wrap his mind around it, and eventually he starts heading back home.

Later he will blame it on the lack of sleep that he only saw the fire when he heard people shouting.

Iwaizumi looks up and sees the most dreadful sight he'd ever seen in his young life. Not hundred yards away from him laid a destruction, a building destroyed by fire. A lot of villagers were standing on safe distance, looking in horror, but closer to the building stood the whole group of monks.

The building actually couldn't be called a building anymore, more like remnants of a house. Only a few walls remained standing, the most was broken down. A trail of destruction was left from the house to the forest.

And then Iwaizumi's world crashed when he realized it. That was Oikawa's home. Or it supposed to be.

As fast as he could, he ran. His feet hurt by stones and mud got on his pants, but he couldn't care.

"OIKAWA!?" He yelled when he almost reached the house swallowed up by the flames. "OIKAWA? ARE YOU HERE?" He said in a panicked voice.

People were looking at him with mourning faces, but Iwaizumi wasn't looking at him. He kept searching around, almost getting so close to the flames that his skin started getting hot.

"TOORU!" He screams louder frantically. But there was no one who replied.

Iwaizumi kept looking around anxiously, but then he sees the monks. Only Konou is standing straight, the rest are leaning exhausted on their staffs or sitting on the ground. Do they know where Oikawa is? He starts walking their way while trying to catch their attention.

"Hey! Excuse me. Do you know where-" Iwaizumi starts and a few monks look up at him. But his words stock in his throats when he sees what is laying behind the group of monks. On the ground, with a blue blanked over it, lays the ominous but obvious figure of a dead body.

Iwaizumi only notices that he fell on hands and knees when a hand under his arms tries to get him back up. The monk is speaking to him, but all Iwaizumi hears is a distant ringing sound.

His eyes, focused on the body on the grass, cannot look away, even when Iwaizumi really wants to close them. It is only when the monk comes to stand between him and his view, that Iwaizumi can focus on the words he is speaking.

"-Iwaizumi, isn't it?" He asks softly. Iwaizumi only now recognizes the monk as Konou.

He doesn't react, but the monk must have seen the attention in his eyes because he continues while lowering his head.

"I am afraid that you won't be finding your friend here anymore."

Iwaizumi looks at the monk with a hollow gaze. "Is that-" He starts, but he can't even voice his thoughts without choking on his words. The monk follows the Iwaizumi gaze but then shakes his head lightly.

"We only have the body of the witch, not from your friend."

Even when Iwaizumi doesn't completely follow Konou, he still hears the most important part. The person under the blanket isn't Oikawa.

He directly diverts his gaze towards Konou and lays his hands on the monk's shoulders. "Do you know where he is?" He is now rattling the man, but the monk is surprisingly strong and takes Iwaizumi's hands of his shoulders.

"Tell me!" Iwaizumi begs, his expression desperate.

The monk looks away and then starts telling him. "We were too late to save his soul. The monster devoured him."

"He what? The monster... It ate-?" Iwaizumi forgets how to breath. Suddenly everything gets very cold, and black spots start to appear in his vision.

"The witch was already too far with her experiments on him, there was no way of saving him. At least she can't do anymore wrong now." The monk says and the looks at dead body a few meters away.

But Iwaizumi isn't listening anymore.

His legs give out, and he grips his trembling hands in tight first against his chest. The little hope he had, vanishes in the air, together with his trembling breath. Konou is looking at him and just want to reach for Iwaizumi's shoulder when Iwaizumi starts shouting.

He screams, while punching his fists on the ground, releasing his emotions. But it doesn't help one bit.

The monk keeps standing by Iwaizumi's side, looking over him into the last flames of the deterring building. Waiting until the boy calms down.

The next time Iwaizumi looks up to the monk, it is with a tear streamed face, but his eyes are filled with fire and fierce hate.

"Tell me what happened. Tell me everything, and tell me where the monster went. I will kill it." He says determined.

Konou looks at him enquiringly. When he sees what he is looking for, he says with a stern voice. "There will be a hunting party looking for the monster by the next nightfall. I have seen the way you fight and I can use man like you. If you wish to pursuit the beast, then become a hunter for me."

And Iwaizumi agrees. Without doubt. "What do you need me to do." He asks Konou, which earns him an approving look.

"Get your things together, and meet us at the camp this afternoon. We will explain the plan to you then."

Iwaizumi nods curtly and stands up. The monk is about to walk away, when he appears to remember something.

"And please inform your family. There is a probability you won't return from this hunt." Konou recommends. Then the monk turns around and walk to the rest of his group.

A different Iwaizumi, the Iwaizumi from not a day ago, would have listened to his more preserving nature. But the Iwaizumi of now doesn't even give the possibility of dying a second of his thoughts. The only thing that matters to him now, is revenging his best friend.

No matter what. He will kill the monster, and revenge Oikawa.

\---

It takes Iwaizumi the rest of the morning to convince his mother about his case. Masako was just as devastated about the news as he was. But only when his mother spoke about Oikawa's mother, Iwaizumi realized that Surime must be the witch Konou was talking about.

For a moment, he felt awful that he only had thought about Oikawa, and not a second about his mother. But didn't the monk said that Surime had done something to Oikawa? Was it her fault that the monster was able to ate his friend?

He doesn't know what to think about it, but decides to focus purely on the monster. That is at least clear for him. That thing must be destroyed. So after he took a quick nap, he rounded all the things he might need in the hunt.

His mother prepared extra food for him, and Iwaizumi had to act like he didn't see her crying when preparing the meal, otherwise he might have lost his focus. And he must do this.

Just before he steps out if the house, his mother stops him one last time. "Should I wait for you to return?"

Iwaizumi knows that she planned to go to her sister in a few days. "No, you should go to your sister to help her, I will come visit you all when this is over." He takes his mother's hands in his and looks in her eyes while saying. "I will return to you. I promise."

This time he can't ignore the tears welling in his mother's eyes. Only then Iwazumi realizes that this must be exactly the same his father said to her before he went into battle for the king.

"I must do this." He says sadly, and he sees his mother nod weakly.

"I know, I love you."

"I love you too."

Iwaizumi doesn't look back another time when he then turns around and walks away.

 

\--- PRESENT ---

 

"No." Iwaizumi breathes out. "You... this can't be..."

The monster stops walking when it hears Iwaizumi's voice. Now the beast stands still, Iwaizumi can see it swaying on his legs. There is still blood dripping out of the wound on its chest. But his gaze is drawn back to the monster's eyes.

Deep brown eyes bore into him, and Iwaizumi can't look away. All he could see is pain and sadness. No monster, no rage, only a pleading look. Asking for help.

"Tooru?" Iwaizumi whispers with a broken voice.

But then he hears more hunters approaching, and so does the monster. It lets out a low yowl and after one last look at Iwaizumi, it stumbles away.

Iwaizumi stays frozen on his place. That was the monster that killed his friend? But this cannot be real. It was looking so much like Oikawa. Is this a trick? From the monster? Something magically to make it harder for him to kill him?

But it stopped fighting. The monster didn't hurt Iwaizumi when he saw him. Was that... recognition?

Whatever it was, Iwaizumi want to see it again. And when he hears the rest of the hunters coming closer he continues chasing the monster.

It goes much easier now the demon is wounded, and within moments Iwaizumi catches up to it. It clearly has trouble walking and breaths so hard that Iwaizumi can hear it. When it hears Iwaizumi following him, it looks around, and while it is distracted, it doesn't see where it is walking.

Suddenly the demon trips and falls painfully on the ground. Iwaizumi takes advantage of that immediately and draws his sword, this time to strike the monster.

The monster scrambles up to his hands and knees but doesn't move when he sees Iwaizumi coming at him. He only closes his eyes defeated.

Iwaizumi laches out right to where the demon's throat is but then- He stops.

He can't. The sword is hanging mid-air, and both Iwaizumi as the monster are holding in their breath.

Then the monster slowly opens his eyes, looking for what made the hunter stop. And that moment Iwaizumi sees it again.

Featherlike scales are shimmering on the dark skin of the monster's face. But those dark eyes full of emotion are still the same.

"They told me you were dead." Iwaizumi whispers, still not believing his own eyes.

However, the reaction of the monster clears up any doubts. In a voice, that's not more than a pained hiss, it says. "Iwa-chan..."

Iwaizumi lowers his sword. The monster- no, Oikawa looks at him with a gaze full of disbelief. But his eyes go wide when Iwaizumi pulls his sword back in its sheath and tries to come closer.

A threatening growl comes from Oikawa when he orders. "Stay away from me Iwa-chan, I am dangerous."

Iwaizumi does the exact opposite and reaches his hand out to the shoulder of the monster.

"No!" Oikawa recoils and makes himself fall back on his back by his uncoordinated move.

Iwaizumi raises his hands in the air carefully, gesturing he means no harm, staying away this time.

"Tooru, I know you won't hurt me." he says softly. But while he says that, he hears more hunters coming their way, they are not walking straight in their direction, so they haven't spotted them yet. That could change within seconds.

"Let me help you." Iwaizumi continues, "They are searching for a terrible monster, they told me that that monster was the one that killed you!" But Oikawa's is already shaking his head, the scales catching the moon's light.

"Iwa-chan, haven't you looked at me properly?" Two sad eyes look at him. "I AM the monster they are searching for. You don't know what happened." Large tears start welling in the dark eyes.

For a moment silence stretches between them, until Iwaizumi hears the hunters getting uncomfortably close.

Oikawa also hears them, and for the first time this night, Iwaizumi sees something that looks like fear in the monster's stature. And then his decision is made for him. After all, Oikawa is the one he would always trust.

A choice between him and the monks isn't a choice at all.

"All I see right now is my best friend, which I thought I lost. I am not going to lose you again. So get the fuck up and let me help you. We are getting out of here." Iwaizumi whispers harshly.

When Oikawa keeps looking at him with disbelieving eyes, Iwaizumi takes action. He doesn't listen to the protest of his friend when he helps him back on his feet.

He tries to help Oikawa walk with his arm around the monster's middle, but Iwaizumi feels him trembling in his arms. Oikawa isn't going to be able to run like this.

He curses when the first hunter spots them and releases his hold on his friend.

"Go. I will catch up to you later." Iwaizumi tells him while pulling his sword out.

The hunters that find them are furious. Oikawa killed their friends not a moment ago. But the sight of another hunter standing before the monster in a defensive stance make them stop in their run.

This gives Iwaizumi enough time to count all five of them, three swordsmen, one archer and a broad man with an axe. He had spoken to one of the swordsman not four hours ago.

"GO!" He shouts to Oikawa, but doesn't look back to see if his friend listens. He focuses on the five men before him.

"I don't mean you all harm, you can choose to walk away now." He suggests the other hunters. But they just scoff at him.

"If you are defending that thing, then we are just going through you as well." The man with the axe says.

And then all men charge.

Iwaizumi manages to par the first sword, and dodge the next. He can't stand still because the next second the third swordsman swings his sword at him. The man is strong, and Iwaizumi just manages to catch the sword with his own. But then he sees in his rear vision that the archer is shooting an arrow right at him.

He is stuck between the sword of the other hunter and can only watch the arrow darting his way. Iwaizumi waits for the pain of the impact, but then the arrow stops right before his throat.

A black-scaled claw grips the arrow so tightly that it snaps. Iwaizumi looks back and shares a meaningful look with Oikawa. And he doesn't think about how close that save was, he just falls back on his instincts.

Years and years of training besides his friend makes them move like one. It doesn't matter that Oikawa doesn't have a sword right now. Iwaizumi still knows that when Oikawa has his back, that they could fight more than five men.

Iwaizumi takes advantage of the distracted swordsman and pushes him back only to finish it with stabbing the man in his vital parts.

In the meantime, Oikawa also mixed himself in the combat, still fighting on the last energy he has. He quickly finds his way to the archer. The man is not matched against the demon in close combat and is down within moments.

Iwaizumi doesn't see what happens next, because an axe suddenly swings dangerously close to his face. He jumps back quickly to dodge the attack and has to hide behind a tree to avoid the next swing.

The axe almost splits the tree with the force behind it and Iwaizumi breaths out a shuddering breath. He looks back for a second and sees Oikawa struggling to keep up against the two other swordsmen.

The broad man doesn't get the axe out of the tree immediately and Iwaizumi uses that time to run back to his friend.

One swordsman sees him in time to stop him, with the consequence that Oikawa now only gets one opponent to focus on. With the demon's full power directed on him, the other swordsman doesn't stand a chance.

While Iwaizumi starts sparring with his opponent, Oikawa manages to grab the swordsman's hand in his claws. The man screams when the sharp talons pierce his skin and he drops his sword. Oikawa doesn't even look at it when it falls in the ground and uses the claws of his free hand to lash out to the man's throat. The talons, that are as sharp as knives, smoothly end the hunter's life.

Iwaizumi just starts getting the upper-hand in battle when the man with the axe returns. "You are going to die demon!" He yells while charging to Oikawa.

Iwaizumi directly bails on his fight, even now the other man is almost on the ground, and poses himself between Oikawa and the man.

He knows that Oikawa can't handle the force which the axe is yielded with right now.

In his turn, Oikawa goes to defend Iwaizumi's back, and not a moment too late, because the last swordsman is already back on his feet.

Back to back, the two now fight against their opponents. It isn't a coincidence that these men are the two of the five left standing. The swordsman is very good, and halfway Oikawa tries to get one of the fallen swords from the other swordsmen, but the hunter reads his move and constantly blocks his way, so Oikawa needs to fight with only his claws.

Iwaizumi starts to breath more heavily every time he blocks or dodges one of the broad hunter's attacks. It is exhausting. But he doesn't give up. If he was fighting alone, then he could move around more, trying to attack the hunter in his weak spots. But right now, he needs to keep the hunter away from Oikawa.

"You should have given us that monster." The man before him sneers. Iwaizumi cannot give a fitting remark back, because the next moment the man attacks with his axe again. But this time, he manages to slam Iwaizumi's sword out of his hands with the power behind it.

Iwazumi grunts when he falls back on his hands by the force. He looks up and sees the hunter already lifting his axe for his final assault.

"NO! HAJIME!" The demon screams and rushes forward. Oikawa slams into the hunter with his claws flat against the man's chest.

Iwazumi can see in horror how a manic grin of victory comes upon the hunter's face. But before he can use his axe, a blinding light flashes brightly. Iwaizumi needs to shield his eyes against the light with his arms.

When the light dims again, Iwaizumi can only hear the weird buzz of static in the air, the rest of the forest is dead silent.

He quickly rushes to where he knows his sword must be. However, the black spots in his vision make it difficult to find it. When his hands grip the familiar form he directly turns around to attack again. But when he finally sees what is before him, Iwaizumi halts.

Before him lays the axe wielder, still with that creepy smile on his face and his axe in his hand. But in his chest, on the place Oikawa placed his hands only a moment before, is now a scorching black hole.

Behind him, Iwaizumi hears the last swordsman run away to where he came from. He probably understood that his chances of survival were very low and he values his life more.

But he pays little attention to his enemy and lets him go away, because he sees Oikawa lying hunched over himself on the ground.

And something is wrong. Iwaizumi runs back to his friend's side and then sees what changed. Slowly the dark scales vanish from Oikawa's back, leaving behind the familiar pale skin. Also, the large talons on his hands and feet are gone.

"Oikawa, are you okay?" Iwaizumi slowly moves closer, pulling his sword away and putting his hands on his friend's shoulder. At contact, he feels a little shock going through his body and he lets go quickly with a yelp.

"Ah! Oikawa, please say something." He asks when the other stays huddles in himself, his head in his arms.

Then Iwazumi hears him speaking so softly, that he can't hear what he is saying. For the second time, he tries to put his hand on the other's shoulder. This time he isn't surprised by the static shock, and it doesn't hurt too much.

Softly he pushes Oikawa back, trying to see his face. "What did you say?" He asks almost just as soft.

Oikawa finally meets his gaze with hooded eyes. The smile that comes upon his face is little, but it matches the little creeks besides his eyes.

"I liked it better when you called me Tooru." Oikawa whispers, too exhausted to speak any louder.

Iwaizumi chuckles when he hears that and sees the smile on his friend's face grow even larger. "How did you even do that... thing, whatever it was?" Iwaizumi says while looking back at the dead man with the hole in his chest.

Oikawa follows his gaze. "I- I don't know. It also happened before when they-." But then he stops talking. A full-body shudder travels through him, which Iwaizumi interprets as him being cold.

"Wait, I will get you some clothing." He says and gets the clothes from one of the dead swordsmen. He won't be needing in anymore anyway.

"Here." He offers the shirt and pants to Oikawa when he is done. The brunet reaches out to it with a trembling hand and puts them on with a little help.

Iwaizumi tries not to, but in the meantime his eyes trail over Oikawa's skin, searching for every wound. He doesn't look good, the wound on his chest definitely needs treatment and his arms and legs are graced with scratches and deeper cuts.

He is so distracted, that he only notices Oikawa losing his balance when he is already falling forward. Swiftly he catches the man who falls against his chest, and steadies him at his shoulders.

The little buzz from the others skin doesn't bother Iwaizumi anymore. But what he does notice is the little trembling in Oikawa's shoulders.

"Tooru?" He says, but Oikawa only buries his head deeper into his chest. Iwaizumi gently pulls his arms around him to hold him close, and a deep sigh escapes him.

He found Oikawa. Oikawa isn't dead, but right here in his arms. Slowly a smile starts tugging on his lips, but it fades when he hears a strangled sob coming from the guy in his arms.

"They killed her." Oikawa slowly lifts his head to look up at him with a heartbroken expression. "They killed her." He whispers again, his voice a little higher. "They wanted me but she tried to keep them away and therefore they killed her." The brunet heaves, now trembling all over again.

Iwaizumi looks at him shocked, suddenly aware of all the lies of the monks. Everything falls into place.

The monks, they were the ones that were coming for Oikawa.

How could he be so blind?

But then he feels Oikawa clutching onto him and he pushes his thoughts away. Reprimanding himself can wait, Oikawa needs him now.

He wants to say that it will be okay, but he knows that it won't be okay. He cannot bring Oikawa's mother back. He also doesn't know what will happen now.

So Iwaizumi only tells Oikawa what he knows for sure.

"Sshh, I'm here now." He says while stroking his hands through Oikawa's brown locks. "I am here, and I will stay by your side. You're not alone Tooru."

He keeps repeating that in a soft voice while caressing over the other's back. Oikawa leans in his embrace, savouring his body warmth.

After a little while the brunet stops trembling and Iwaizumi takes that as his cue to move.

"Hey, we need to keep moving, more hunters will come eventually, surely after that last one got away." Actually, Iwaizumi had also kept his attention on his surroundings while comforting Oikawa, but luckily he didn't hear or see anything yet.

"Can you walk?" He asks but already knows the answer while saying it. Oikawa untangles himself from him and starts to take a step away but his knees already buckle and he needs to grab hold again to Iwaizumi to stay standing.

The look he casts to Iwaizumi's direction is terribly sad and defeated. But Iwaizumi doesn't let him dwell for a second because he directly goes to stand before him with his knees bend a little. "Get on my back, I will carry you." He offers.

Oikawa hesitates a moment but then lays his hand on Iwaizumi's shoulders and lets the other pick him up.

Iwaizumi feels him relax against his back. "Hold on." He grunts behind him while he starts walking away from the dead hunters.

He walks to what he thinks is the way deeper into the forest, hoping the hunters wouldn't go this way. But it is hard to orientate in a forest when all he sees is trees and darkness.

Suddenly Oikawa tenses and Iwaizumi feels him getting straighter. He just wants to ask what's wrong when Oikawa tells him. "Follow that crow."

His voice only a whisper, but easily heard because he is so close by Iwaizumi's ear.

"What? Which crow?" Iwaizumi asks while looking around. Then a bird comes to fly before him, landing a few steps before him on the ground.

"He... will show the way." Oikawa slurs. Then Iwaizumi feels the grip of the other loosen.

"Oi! Don't pass out on me Tooru! I need you to stay awake, can you do that?" He says immediately. 

He can't walk with Oikawa unconscious. What if he dies rightnow from his wounds? Iwaizumi feels his gut clenching. He just has him back, hecan't lose him. Not again. 

"Stay awake Tooru." He repeats. The hands on his shoulders grip a little tighter.

"The crow." Is all Oikawa answers.

So that is what Iwaizumi does. After a few seconds, he sees the crow flying away in a direction. Iwaizumi can't see really good in the dark, but it looks like the crow is waiting for him a few meters further.

He doesn't question how that crow knows how to wait for him, or why the bird is the one that leads his way.

Iwaizumi just accepts it, he has more important things to worry about. The biggest one is back from the death and laying his cheek on his shoulder.

He would follow even a frog if that animal would bring them somewhere safe.

And so Iwaizumi keeps walking on a fast pace. Away from the fading sound of hunters in the distance, with the bird always a few meters before him.


End file.
